Hagakure
by Lady Netiri
Summary: HIATUS The group is out shard hunting when they meet a demoness who seems to know Inu-Yasha from when he was little. Who is she and why is she so depressed? Her father is WHO!
1. Default Chapter

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Disclaimer: I don't own Inu-Yasha or any of its characters. I simply abuse them for my own twisted means of amusement.

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Prologue

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"Mother, may I go out and play?" the young Inu-Yasha asked his mother with big dewy eyes.

She smiled brightly. "Go ahead, son. Be careful."

"Oh, I will mother!" he assured her as he left to go play with his only friend.

Now where to find her? She was normally creeping around somewhere, trying to get out of work. She was definitely not a girly type of girl and household work did not suite her, nor did it please her.

"Hagakure?" Inu-Yasha called out timidly as he rounded a bend in the path.

He smelt her. He knew she was somewhere nearby, but where?

"Here I am, Lord Inu-Yasha." a sweet voice came from the trees.

"Don't worry, Hagakure. I'm here alone." he assured her.

"So you are." the girl said, still up hidden in the tree somewhere.

Inu-Yasha glanced up in the tree and figured out exactly where she was. He tried to jump up and join her but his half human nature made him a little clumsy; he got caught up in the branches. 

"Damn!" he cursed.

"Temper, temper, Inu." Hagakure teased him, her face hidden by shadows but her piercing amber eyes blazing through.

"Oh shut up."

"Why should I, Lord Inu-Yasha, who is caught up in a _tree_?" she asked as she came out of the shadows. Her black hair accented her features but hid her black ears from view.

Inu-Yasha growled at that add-on to his name. 

"We'll see who's caught up in a tree!" he growled. 

"But I already do!" she giggled.

Inu-Yasha growled several indecipherable phrases before finally giving up and asking for help. Knowing Hagakure, she'd never let him live it down. Once on the ground, they started to wrestle.

"Ha! I win, Inu!" Hagakure shouted victoriously from her position over the young hanyou. 

"Not…for…long!" Inu-Yasha growled as he shoved her off himself. 

After much rolling and kicking, Hagakure was again the victor.

"Pinned ya!" 

Once again, Inu-Yasha managed to throw her off. And once again, Hagakure managed to win.

"Pinned ya again!"

"How come you always win? I'm two seasons older than you!" Inu-Yasha whined.

"Because I'm a girl, and the gods _always _favor the innocent little girl to win the fights." Hagakure said pointedly. 

"You wish!" Inu-Yasha shouted as he went for another go.

The two kicked, bit, and rolled around until they became aware that they were being watched. They both stood up with Inu-Yasha in the front and Hagakure in the back. They eyed the demon in front of them a bit nervously.

"What are you two doing out here?" he asked in a rather icy voice.

Hagakure gulped and looked down at the ground obediently. Inu-Yasha, however, stood straight up and defiantly eyed the demon with a bitter glance. 

"Sesshomaru, don't you have better things to do than bug us?"

"I, Sesshomaru, heir to the Western Lands, have no such time to waste. Besides, it is you, little brother, who interrupted _me_ when you and that girl rolled in here, biting and kicking…" He looked over in the girl's direction. "Take leave of us now, girl." Sesshomaru ordered.

"Yes, Lord Sesshomaru." 

She bowed to each of them in turn before backing away. Little did Inu-Yasha know that this would be the last time he would see her for quite a while.

"You have no right to be so mean!" Inu-Yasha protested.

"Were you not my father's child," Sesshomaru growled, "I would have killed you long ago."

"Well I am," Inu-Yasha growled at his older brother, "and as long as father's alive, you'd better not make any funeral plans."

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Ooooh burn! Sesshy's evil to poor little Inu-Yasha. Oh well, we all know what happens when they get older. ^-^

This is just the prologue. My other chapters should be longer. Oh, and "two seasons older" means two years older. Just a little fun fact for ya!

--Lady Netiri ^-^


	2. Meeting With a Clash

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Disclaimer: I don't own Inu-Yasha or any of its characters. I simply abuse them for my own twisted means of amusement. However, I **_DO_** own Hagakure. She is mine. You can't have her so **_NYEH_**!

Didn't I _tell _you the chapters would be longer? But there will be a bit of a wait in between…sorry, but I can't pump 'em out like a copier! 

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Meeting With a Clash

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"Inu-Yasha, watch out!" Kagome shouted as another pin-like projectile flew at him.

This demon was not going down easily. It had a jewel shard embedded in its tail that was making it so powerful.

"I'm trying!" Inu-Yasha barked.

"This is no time to argue!" Miroku called over from his spot.

"Focus on the tail!" Sango shouted, remembering where Kagome said the shard was.

"I'll chop this overgrown pin cushion in half!" Inu-Yasha growled as he charged the beast. 

He raised the Tetsusaiga over his head and brought it down. The demon was killed in one quick swipe.

"Why didn't you do that before?!" Shippo cried from his spot on Kagome's shoulder.

"I didn't think of it…" was Inu-Yasha's tactful response.

Kagome sighed and went over to what was left of the tail to grab the jewel shard. Just as she was bending down to pick it up, she felt a demon aura. Then a red wispy looking thing pushed passed her and disappeared. 

"What was that?!" Miroku questioned. 

"I don't know." Kagome stated. She looked down to the place previously occupied by the jewel shard only to find it missing. "But it took the jewel shard!"

"What?!" everybody shouted in unison.

"You heard me! Let's go get it!" Kagome shouted.

Inu-Yasha growled as he ran after the mysterious red wisp of hair or fur or whatever the hell it was, with Kagome on his back. Sango and Miroku shortly followed on the fire cat, Kirara. They had already earned that shard and no low-life demon was going to steal it from them!

The wisp led them to an open field that was surrounded by trees. It stopped and faced them. It had long, deep red hair and a tail the same color. His eyes were a deep chocolate brown and his fangs were as sharp as needles.

"It's a kitsune!" Sango gasped. 

The little fox growled at the group, with the shard clutched to its chest, like there was no tomorrow. For a young one, it was extremely vicious but had none of the brawn to go along with the attitude. 

Shippo stared at him from his perch on Kagome's shoulder. Why was he so nasty? Kitsune were normally pretty good-natured unless threatened. 

"Fox," Inu-Yasha growled, "give me back that jewel shard and we'll leave you alone!"

Inu-Yasha thrust his hand out, expecting the little fox to just run up and drop it in his palm. He didn't; he just snarled all the louder. Inu-Yasha made an advance and the kit let out a yelp that could have woken the dead.

"Enough!" demanded a female voice from the perimeter of the trees. "What is going on here?!"

A female demon stepped out of the darkness with her arms crossed over her chest. Her long black hair and tail shifted in the wind and her ears were pricked, sitting stiffly on the top of her head. Her eyes were glowing amber, protected by a gate of long, thick eyelashes. Her obi was pushed out, but not in an obese sort of way. 

The kit recognized her as friend and bounded happily to her. He whispered something in her ear.

"You have been terrorizing my pup?" the demoness asked angrily after the kit was finished. 

"Feh! That kit ain't your pup!" Inu-Yasha snorted. "You're not a kitsune."

The demoness growled at him. Her hand flew to her sword. 

"Stop harassing my pup and be on your way, hanyou."

"Is that a challenge, bitch!?" Inu-Yasha growled.

"Perhaps it was, stupid hanyou." She looked at the kit on her shoulder. "Hakaki, wait here."

The kit Hakaki, jumped off her shoulder and waited near the tree line. The demoness walked up within fifteen feet of Inu-Yasha.

"Hanyou, let us battle without our swords. I wish to see something."

"Fine with me!" Inu-Yasha snickered.

Kagome was worried. "Something about her isn't right— "

"Kagome, I've never backed down from a battle before. I won't start now." Inu-Yasha said arrogantly.

"Men never learn…" Sango said with disgust.

"What could you mean, dearest Sango?" Miroku asked innocently as he scooted a step closer to her.

Kirara looked on amused from her mistress's side.

"Point proven," Sango said as she stepped an equal distance away.

The demoness was oblivious to this conversation. She threw down her sword and removed a carefully hidden dagger as well. 

"Anything else in those robes of yours, bitch?" Inu-Yasha asked sarcastically.

"Now, half-breed, was that supposed to be an insult?" she retorted quickly.

Inu-Yasha growled at that label as he threw down his sword. He was determined to put an end to it.

"Come, come now!" the demoness taunted. "Surely you are not afraid to attack me, are you?"

Inu-Yasha lunged to prove his point. The demoness dodged easily and smacked him on the back of the head.

This crazy bitch reminded Inu-Yasha of his brother. It wasn't her looks— she looked far from identical to Sesshomaru, in fact she could be his polar opposite— but it was her snotty attitude and overwhelming need to point out what she thought about his fighting. She also had Sesshomaru's characteristically placed, tasteless expression during the battle. One thing that wasn't like Sesshomaru at all, was the _way_ she taunted him.

"Clumsy, clumsy, hanyou!" she taunted in a joking voice. "I could've easily killed you just now! You shouldn't let emotions steer you in a fight."

Inu-Yasha swerved and struck again, now to defend his pride and to try to wipe that triumphant smirk off her face. He caught her by surprise and managed to give her a small slash mark across the face.

"Ah, so you can fight!" she exclaimed happily as she brushed the small amount of blood away. "I guess it was all lies then!"

"What was all lies?!"

The demoness ignored Inu-Yasha's question in favor of attacking him. She managed to get a claw into him and smelt his blood. It smelt strangely familiar to her. 

"Have I fought you before, hanyou?" she asked as she stood off, allowing him to catch his breath.

"I never allow my opponents to leave alive." he angrily growled.

"Is that so?" she asked with brightened eyes and a sly edge in her voice. 

She was upon him so fast he couldn't react. She pinned him to the ground and all that enveloped his vision was a smiling face, amber eyes, and a swirl of black hair. All the group could do was stare in horror. Inu-Yasha was at the complete mercy of the demoness.

"Pinned ya!" she shouted playfully.

This surprised everybody, even her own kit, out of their minds. Inu-Yasha looked up at the demoness that was now on top of him, effectively pinning him down.

"Who _are_ you?!" he growled up at her. 

Her face dropped a little. She then got off Inu-Yasha, freeing him, and tried to get up.

"Oh, damn. I'm stuck." she growled angrily as her knees protested to any type of movement. "Hakaki, come help me."

"Yes, mama." 

The little kitsune sprung over to his mother's side and tried to help her up.

Inu-Yasha was now standing, had since picked up the Tetsusaiga, and looked at the demoness carefully. Something about her, other than her uncanny, Sesshomaru-like expression during battle, seemed familiar. He couldn't remember who she was, but he was certain they had met somewhere along the line.

"Inu-Yasha," she growled, "are you just going to let me sit here, or are you going to help me up?"

The entire group was shocked. How could this demoness know Inu-Yasha's name? No one had said it during the entire time they had been fighting.

"Who are you and how do you know me?" he growled at her.

"Lord Inu-Yasha, I'm surprised at you!" she said jokingly. "You never had such a bad memory before."

"Before?" Kagome asked. She turned to Inu-Yasha with angrily narrowed eyes. "Before _what_, Inu-Yasha?"

Inu-Yasha gulped. Kagome angry was a scary thing. To his surprise, the demoness came to his rescue.

"No need to get possessive, my lady. I will gladly explain everything once one of you helps me up. My knees are locked and Hakaki isn't quite strong enough yet." 

She held up a hand and Kagome cautiously took it. The demoness gratefully pulled herself up with Kagome's help. She dusted off her robes.

"Well I thank you, Lady…?"

"My name is Kagome."

"Hmm… Lord Inu-Yasha and Lady Kagome…" the demoness mused.

"I beg your pardon?" Kagome asked suddenly. 

The demoness looked at the group a bit confused.

"Are you two not mates?"

Kagome and Inu-Yasha looked at each other and blushed. They quickly found somewhere else to look.

"No." Inu-Yasha growled. "What ever gave you that idea?"

"Well Kagome was being very possessive over you, Lord Inu-Yasha— "

"Will you stop calling me that?! And just who the hell are you?!"

"Inu-Yasha," Miroku interrupted, "you should treat women with a bit more respect."

"I do not blame him, houshi." the demoness said brightly. "His manner of speech has always been so and I learned to live with it."

She walked over to a conveniently placed rock in the middle of the field and sat down. Hakaki followed her closely and eyed Inu-Yasha.

"Please come here so I can explain." she beckoned them.

Kagome went first with Shippo on her shoulder, followed by Sango and Miroku. Inu-Yasha stood off eyeing the woman down his nose. 

"Still the stand-offish, stubborn Inu-Yasha I knew." she chuckled. 

Inu-Yasha growled at her. She brushed it off like a speck of unwanted dirt.

"Anyway, my name is Hagakure."

Inu-Yasha's eyes almost bugged out of his head in surprise. This couldn't be the same twit he used to goof off with at the castle! No, it was impossible! That would have made her sixty-three years old, but she didn't look a day over sixteen.

"Hagakure…?" he asked, unsure he had heard correctly.

She nodded her head and smiled warmly. 

"It can't be you!" he shouted as he ran up to her.

"Its me. To tell the truth, I thought you were dead." Hagakure explained as she playfully batted Inu-Yasha in the nose for getting too close to her face. Then she embraced him lightly.

"Can we press rewind here?" Kagome asked suddenly.

Hagakure looked up at Kagome with a very confused look on her face. 

"Rewind?" Hagakure asked, looking to Kagome's companions. She stepped away from Inu-Yasha. "Is this a code of some sort?" 

"No," Sango assured her. "Kagome comes from a place far away that has some odd customs and sayings."

"Indeed. May I ask what troubles you?"

"I'm just confused. How do you two know each other?"

Hagakure giggled. 

"That will take a while. I should like to know your names first."

"Kagome."

"Miroku."

"Sango."

"Shippo."

"This is Hakaki, my adopted pup." Hagakure said pointing to the kit.

He nodded. 

"I believe you have something of theirs, Hakaki?" 

"Yes, momma." he said solemnly. 

Hakaki took the jewel shard and handed it to Kagome, growling defiantly at Inu-Yasha. Hagakure giggled and ruffed up Inu-Yasha's hair.

"I always hated it when you did that." he grumbled.

"Exactly, Inu. That's why I always loved doing it."

Hagakure stretched her arms over her head. 

"Ooh, ooh, ouch." she gasped as she grabbed her back. "I'll never get this being pregnant thing." 

Inu-Yasha turned pale.

"Y-you're pregnant?" he stuttered. 

"To my mate of seven years!" she laughed as she proudly showed off a bite mark on her neck.

"What is that?" Miroku asked, curious.

"It's a mark my mate gave me to show I'm off limits. All demons do it."

"That's one hell of a hickey…" Kagome said quietly.

Hagakure decided not to ask.

Kagome stole a glance at Inu-Yasha. He didn't look too good. His face was pale and his eyes were wide. 

"Inu-Yasha, are you okay?" Kagome asked him worriedly. 

The group turned their heads to look at him. When he didn't respond, Kagome started to wave her hand in front of his face. Hagakure took a step closer to them and joined in. After a few minutes of that, Kagome did the only thing she could do.

"Sit."

Inu-Yasha obediently plunged to the ground. Hagakure would have been rolling with laughter if she weren't pregnant. For the rest of the group, this was common practice.

Inu-Yasha came back up full of vigor.

"What the hell was that for?!" he shouted.

"You were acting like a freaking drone!"

"Well I was surprised!"

"Gods, I'd hate to see him when it's **_his_** mate." Hagakure giggled and nudged Kagome with a wink.

Kagome blushed. Inu-Yasha turned to Hagakure.

"What's his name?"

"My mate? Shiro, but why do you care?"

"I want to give my condolences to the poor sap that got stuck with you."

"Why, you little…!" Hagakure growled.

She reached up and grabbed one of Inu-Yasha's ears and twisted it. Hard. So hard in fact, she almost had Inu-Yasha on his knees begging for mercy.

"And that, Kagome, is what you do if that rosary of yours ever breaks." Hagakure said triumphantly as she let go of Inu-Yasha's ear.

Kagome stared in awe as Inu-Yasha rubbed his abused ear. That must have really hurt. It made sense though. Ears were a very sensitive place on humans so it was logical that the sensitivity would be magnified by Inu-Yasha's demon blood. 

"Now let me tell you of how Inu-Yasha and I know each other." Hagakure said once again sitting on the rock.

"That can wait for a while." Miroku stated.

"Yes," Sango agreed. "We have to set up camp before it gets terribly dark. You can tell us then."

The rest of the group nodded their heads in agreement. Hagakure smiled. They trusted her so easily. She hadn't been trusted by anyone except her mate for the past fifty-some-odd years.

"Well I guess it would be useless to argue with that stubborn oaf if he's got all you behind him." she laughed.

"Yes it is." Inu-Yasha growled.

~*~*~

A set of eyes watched them as they gathered firewood and the other things necessary for a camp. 

The two fox kits, Shippo and Hakaki, played near the demoness. She had been forced to stay sitting after revealing that she was due to deliver in less than a month's time. The hanyou and monk were searching for something to eat in the woods a little ways off. The two girls gathered firewood on the outskirts of the meadow.

The demon watched them intently from the bushes. He crept slowly forward. Inch, by agonizingly slow inch. He was determined to get his prey. 

He stepped on a twig.

Hagakure's ears barely twitched.

He thought this unusual since she was obviously a full-blooded youkai, but shrugged it off. 

~*~*~

Hagakure heard it; a sharp crack of a dry stick. She knew there was something out there hunting them. It was foolish in thinking they were easy prey just because she was pregnant and her current companions were either very young or female.

"Kagome, Sango, please come here." Hagakure called. 

Kagome looked at Sango and they both shrugged. They came up to Hagakure.

"What is it, Hagakure?" Kagome asked.

"There is a demon in the bushes. It falsely thinks we are easy prey."

The bushes rustled. The demon figured if they already knew he was there, then it was a waste of time and energy to try and hide.

An ugly creature appeared from the bushes bearing its fangs.

"Hand over the fragment of the sacred jewel!" it demanded.

"Why do you wait until now to attack?!" Hagakure asked severely. "Is it because you believe it is better to chance a pack of females and young kits, rather than one with its males?"

"Coward." Sango spat out.

Hagakure stood up with a small amount of difficulty and unsheathed her sword.

The demon looked a bit taken back by the sheer ferocity of these women. After all, they looked weak enough. 

It lunged at Hagakure. Just as the girls were about to spring into action, Inu-Yasha appeared before them in a flash of silver and red.

"No you don't!" he shouted as he unsheathed the Tetsusaiga.

Before the demon knew what hit him, he was dead, lying in a pool of his own blood. Miroku came out of the woods in time to see this exchange.

"What the hell do you think you were doing?!" Inu-Yasha shouted angrily at Hagakure. "You could've been killed!"

"Idiot! I was just fine!" Hagakure retorted angrily.

Hakaki's eyes darted from his mother to Inu-Yasha. He'd seen many confrontations like this back at home. His mother always thought she could do things she couldn't and it normally ended up in one huge screaming match between her and her mate.

"Momma, I don't think…" Hakaki started only to be silenced by Hagakure's swift hand wave.

Shippo looked a little confused at the two demons. The scene seemed oddly normal to him. Their ears were set angrily as they argued over how safe Hagakure was and every once in a while Hagakure's tail would twitch clearly showing her anger. Suddenly he got reminded of why this scene seemed a bit familiar: it was normally Kagome and Inu-Yasha arguing like this!

"Um… I do believe I shall here intervene." Miroku said smartly, momentarily interrupting the fight.

Hagakure and Inu-Yasha shot him icy glares and continued right on arguing.

After about five minutes, Kagome was starting to become amused by this exchange. In the beginning they had been arguing over Hagakure's safety. Now they had somehow switched to a wrestling match from X many years ago, that Hagakure had undoubtedly won.

"You cheated!" Inu-Yasha shouted.

"I did not!"

"You did so!"

"It's not my fault that you were a weak puppy!" 

Inu-Yasha flinched. Ouch. That stung. The hurt showed plainly on his face.

Hagakure snorted, crossed her arms over her chest and looked away. She suddenly snickered.

"You haven't changed a bit." she giggled.

Inu-Yasha's face brightened.

"Neither have you." he said in a soft tone.

"Did I miss something here?" Sango asked, obviously very confused.

Hagakure smiled. "Well, I guess we can't put off all those explanations I owe you any longer."

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Like? You'll get to understand Hagakure and her story a little better in the next chapter. She's an interesting character, if I do say so myself.

And just a little thing… INU-YASHA WILL **NOT** BE PAIRED WITH HAGAKURE!!! Come on people… think now… They've known each other for like forever. Besides, Hagakure's got a mate. Where he **_IS_**, is a different story. (Actually, it's the bulk of the next chapter in THIS story, but that's another story…err…chapter.) 

About the last chapter being like the Lion King… uh…I guess you could say I borrowed that scene somewhat. But I did make significant changes…right? *dodges a boot that gets thrown at her*

Till next time! 

--**Netiri-sama no Kitsune-hi **{Lady Netiri of Foxfire}

(teaser)

Next Chapter: **Firelight Illuminations **

Shiro looked around. Darkness. Even with his keen youkai eyes, that was really all he could make out. Silence. That was all he heard, only momentarily broken by his breathing and heart beating; his only grips on reality. 

He had no clue where he was, nor how to get his bearings on that situation. All he could do was feel his way around, like he had been doing for a while now. He didn't know for how long; time had melted away for him.


	3. Firelight Illuminations

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Disclaimer: I don't own Inu-Yasha or any of its characters. I simply abuse them for my own twisted means of amusement. 

In this chappy, it makes references to sex. No descriptions or anything [I'm not **_that _**perverted]. Its nothing remotely lemony or even limey, just says some odd things that don't normally come up in conversation. Unless you have those types of parents that talk about EVERYTHING. Just a warning. ^^

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Firelight Illuminations

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It was dark. Not dark from the night, but dark from the sheer evil of the place where he was being held. 

Shiro looked around. Darkness. Even with his keen youkai eyes, that was really all he could make out. Silence. That was all he heard, only momentarily broken by his breathing and heart beating; his only grips on reality. 

He had no clue where he was, nor how to get his bearings on that situation. All he could do was feel his way around, like he had been doing for a while now. He didn't know for how long; time had melted away for him.

His hand scooted across what seemed like a cave floor for the umpteenth time. It was cold like stone, but somehow much smoother, like it had been worn by many years of use. That didn't make sense. If he were deep inside a cave, as he suspected he was by the constant cool temperature and darkness, then the rocks down here should have been rough from lack of wear. Something about this situation didn't seem entirely right to him. It seemed… staged.

But why? He hadn't done anything to any demons as of late that would call for revenge. He didn't think so at least. He was a confident ruler that preferred not to cause trouble. He defended his lands, sure, but he didn't go out of his way to hunt any particular demon down without a definite cause.

Shiro tried to stand up but his muscles screamed in white-hot pain at the injustice of being moved after such a long time. He settled back down against the stone wall, letting the darkness envelope him.

He was starting to get worried. Not over himself, but over _her_. What would Hagakure think? He had disappeared soon after he had gotten her pregnant. That had been _how _long ago? She could have delivered by now for all he knew! Would she think he'd abandoned her? Or, more importantly, would she be foolish enough to come search for him in such a weakened state? He wouldn't put it above her. She was a rash girl.

"A rash one…my mate…"

~*~*~

Night had fallen. Kagome had used some of her 'matches' to start a campfire to keep the now larger group warm as well as to create some light. Kagome sat near Inu-Yasha and Sango had momentarily gone to grab some more kindling.

Hagakure sat near Miroku and stared at the fire like it was the most beautiful thing she'd seen in a long while. The light accented her golden eyes and played with the shadows all around her. She felt comfortably warm.

"Well, Kure," Inu-Yasha started, "you seem to have been doing well for yourself."

Hagakure looked up from the fire to meet the other set of golden eyes.

"Quite well." she responded with a nod and a smile. "I have my whole life ahead of me though."

Inu-Yasha was a little puzzled by this response, but decided not to push the matter further. Not yet, anyway. 

"How do you two know each other?" Sango asked when she came back from collecting a few more sticks for the fire, stepping on Miroku's inching hand as she passed. Honestly, the monk had no inkling of what could happen to him if Hagakure's mate found out he'd touched her.

Miroku grabbed his hand and mouthed: "Ouch!"

Sango gave him a satisfied smirk.

"Well," the demoness began, "we were kids together at the castle. I was Inu's official playmate!"

"You were my **_only_** playmate." Inu-Yasha growled. "The only one, apart from my parents, that didn't care what I was."

"Though that fact is surprising, considering her heritage," a small voice piped up from Inu-Yasha's shoulder.

"Myoga?!" everybody asked in surprise. 

"Then it must be safe to stay here." Shippo said as he snuggled up into Kagome's lap. 

Hakaki looked on in mild amusement as the flea turned all kinds of shades of red. He could've sworn he saw steam coming from Myoga's ears.

Kagome was glad when the normally quiet kit giggled and smiled. She brushed her hands over Shippo's silky tail and watched. She quietly wondered what it would be like if Shippo was more like Hakaki. Inu-Yasha'd get sat a lot less, most likely.

"Myoga?" Hagakure asked. "You're still around?"

"Well I AM a demon!" he puffed a little indignantly.

"Sorry I asked," she said wryly.

"Why would her heritage be of any significance?" Miroku asked, ignoring the current conflict.

Hagakure's glance shifted uncomfortably from each one in the group. Hakaki curled up near the fire. Hagakure picked him up and began to stroke him lovingly. 

"Myoga, where are you going with this?" Inu-Yasha growled.

Kagome was confused. Why did Hagakure so suddenly shut up? It was like she thought of her past as a dirty secret that she had to keep from everybody.

Myoga shifted uncomfortably. 

"You mean she hasn't told you, Master? …Nor have you scented it?"

Inu-Yasha glanced at Hagakure, who was all too interested in picking burs from her kit's fur. She began to sniffle a little bit and Inu-Yasha could smell her tears. She was definitely afraid of something.

"Kure?" he asked coming over to sit near her. "Please tell me."

Inu-Yasha put a hand on Hagakure's chin and brushed the tears away with his thumb. She looked up at him with red swollen eyes. Hakaki shifted and slowly crept out of his mother's lap. He went to go sit by Sango. 

"You'll kill me." Hagakure whispered so that barely even Inu-Yasha could hear. 

"Why would I do that?" Inu-Yasha asked. He chuckled a little bit. "Besides, even if I wanted to, Kagome would sit me a million times before I got the chance to come within five feet of you." 

"Hell yes." Kagome said firmly.

Hagakure giggled at the thought of a new Inu-Yasha shaped crater in the earth. It couldn't hurt to give him the soft side of the bad news anyway.

"Well, I'm…uh… related to…Sesshomaru." Hagakure spat out. 

Inu-Yasha looked shocked, but not angry as he retreated to his spot next to Kagome. He even looked amused when Hagakure took her claw and scraped it across her tongue to get the bad taste saying Sesshomaru's name gave her out.

"That explains why you look so much like him in battle." Inu-Yasha stated more to himself than to anybody.

"Excuse me?!" Hagakure said. "How do **_I_** look like _Sesshomaru_?!"

"That stupid, tasteless expression you put on looked _exactly _like his…but then again, his never comes off…" Inu-Yasha mused.

Sango and Miroku chuckled a little bit at that last comment.

"If you don't mind me asking, how are you related?" Kagome asked.

"Cousins." Hagakure moaned.

"Wait, does that mean that you're…?" Sango asked.

"Related to Inu-Yasha?" Myoga finished. 

The others nodded. 

Hagakure shook her head no. "I'm related on his mother's side, not his father's." 

"Its not _that_ bad to be related to him. I mean, it could be _worse_…" Inu-Yasha said.

"Yes. Like being related to Naraku." Miroku joked, making gagging motions.

"If I was related to that scum bag," Sango growled in a joking manner, "I'd have to kill myself."

Hagakure gave them an awkward smile.

Hakaki yawned and returned to his foster mother giggling. She picked him up and played with his ears before setting him in her makeshift bed for sleep.

"Bed time now, Hakaki." she purred. 

The kit nodded obediently and curled up near Hagakure. 

"You too, Shippo." Kagome told the kit. 

"But I'm not tired." he protested through a yawn.

"Yes you are, Shippo." Kagome told him. "You can barely keep your eyes open."

Shippo grumbled a bit longer but finally gave up once he realized how tired he was. He curled up in Kagome's sleeping bag.

With both kits fast asleep, the adults began to talk again.

"So…" Kagome said smartly to start conversation. 

"What do you want to ask?" Hagakure asked sweetly.

Kagome had so many questions she wanted to ask Hagakure, but she wasn't quite sure how to phrase them. It was obvious that her and Inu-Yasha were very close as kids but she didn't really know exactly how. It was also obvious that this girl had had a rough time in the past few months. 

"What about Hakaki?" Kagome asked, looking over at the sleeping kit and determining that would be the safest subject right now. "Where'd you find him?"

Hagakure frowned. 

"He's an orphan. His parents were killed right in front of him."

__

Then that explains him being so quiet… Kagome thought. 

"I naturally felt awful for him when I found him clinging to his mother's body out on a battlefield somewhere. I took him in about five years ago after a very interesting conversation with Shiro. After all, I know what he's going through, being an orphan and all."

"You do?" Sango asked, concerned.

"Yes, I do." Hagakure said grimly. "My mother died giving birth to me and my father had disappeared beforehand. Afterwards, I was sent to the castle where Sesshomaru, my only living relative at the time, lived with his father, father's mate, and half brother." Hagakure smiled. "That's where I met this pain in the ass, which I fought with like cats and dogs until the day Sesshomaru told everyone he died." she said pointing to Inu-Yasha. "Though I never could find out which one of us was the cat…" 

Inu-Yasha stuck his tongue out and gave her the universal gesture.

Sango rolled her eyes. Hagakure snorted. 

"Wow, _that_ was mature," Kagome said under her breath.

"What about this mate you have?" Inu-Yasha asked, raising his eyebrows slightly.

Sango snorted.

"What's so funny?" Inu-Yasha growled.

"That's something I'd expect Houshi-sama to ask." Sango giggled.

"I guess you're right," Inu-Yasha chuckled. "That _is_ right up Miroku's alley." 

"Gee, thanks, buddy." Miroku said dryly. 

"But seriously," Kagome said turning to Hagakure. "What's he like?"

Hagakure smiled. This was something she loved to talk about.

"Well, he's a real looker," she said with an impish grin. "He's got long silver hair, ice blue eyes, and the cutest black-tipped puppy ears on the planet!" 

Inu-Yasha subconsciously rubbed his ears.

Kagome laughed. He was such an egomaniac. The smallest thing a girl said could send him into a fit. Kagome found this a perfect opportunity for mockery. 

"Don't worry, Inu-Yasha," Kagome teased in a cutesy voice, "I think your ears are much cuter than anybody else's!" 

Kagome then tweaked his ears to prove her point.

Miroku and Sango looked at each other and shook their heads as Hagakure laughed it up. Inu-Yasha blushed red enough to match his haori. 

"Heat getting to ya?" Hagakure mocked when Kagome sat back down.

"Shut up." Inu-Yasha growled.

Before another fight broke out and woke up the kits, Miroku interrupted.

"So, Hagakure, where do you and your mate live?"

"Near Kyoto," Hagakure replied. When she heard surprised gasps she amended, "At least that's what I think the human name for it is…"

Kagome looked up at the pregnant woman.

"How stupid can you be?!" Inu-Yasha shouted, not caring if he woke the kits. "Why in all of the hells would you travel so far in such a condition!?!"

"That is rather reckless." Miroku agreed.

"How could your mate let you do such a thing?" Sango asked, horrified. 

"Where is he anyway?" Kagome growled.

Hagakure stared at them. They were concerned for her unborn child's welfare? It made sense for Inu-Yasha to, but not the rest. They barely knew her. 

The depth of what they said sank in and Hagakure remembered why she was this far away from home in the first place.

"Shiro…"

She broke out into a pathetic torrent of sobs and incoherent muttering. She woke both the kits who instinctively glared at Inu-Yasha, the most father-like figure currently with them and the most probable one who inflicted the damage.

"You…you… cretin!" Hakaki shouted at Inu-Yasha.

"You're such an idiot!" Shippo joined in.

Inu-Yasha sat stunned.

"Why do they always assume it's my fault!?"

"Maybe because it usually **_is_** your fault." Miroku said.

"Boys, its not Inu-Yasha's fault entirely." Hagakure managed before she sniffled again. "It's more or less my own fault."

Kagome and Sango went to comfort Hagakure, the kits instinctively following and growling at Inu-Yasha the entire time. They had no clue as to the real reason she was crying but they were certain that it wasn't entirely their fault. 

"What's wrong?" Kagome cooed while rubbing the demoness's back.

Hagakure took a deep breath and tried to compose herself. After several minutes, she was finally able to get a grip and stopped sniffling. 

"Its Shiro…" she said quietly.

Inu-Yasha growled. If that bastard had hurt his friend, he was going to hurt him so badly that he would wish he were never born. He'd personally hand Hagakure his head on a silver platter. Scratch that— death would be too good for him!

"What about Shiro?" Miroku asked in a calm, gentle voice that was quietly laced with venom towards the man in question.

It was funny how he could change like that. Miroku was the kind of person who was hard to read. Once you broke his barriers and gained his trust, you were able to get right down to what he was thinking, but when you did, you weren't sure if you really wanted to know anymore. Braking barriers is not something you want to do to a person; a friend especially. This was what Inu-Yasha had learned about this young houshi in the time they had been traveling together. 

None-the-less, Inu-Yasha could read the obvious emotions Miroku showed. One, at the current moment, was that he cared for Hagakure and her unborn child. Not in the way he cared for Sango (at least it had better not be, or they'd have one dead houshi on their hands if Shiro got wind of it), but the way one cares for a friend. 

"He's gone." Hagakure said downheartedly.

"Gone?" the girls asked in unison.

"What do you mean, Hagakure?" Miroku asked, his eyebrows furrowing.

"I mean, he just upped and left one night!" Hagakure shouted.

Hakaki winced. His mother was in pain; a kind of pain that no herb known could cure. Her mate had left her in their nest and hadn't returned since. She was overrun by worry and anxiety for him.

"He can't do that." Inu-Yasha said firmly.

"What are you talking about, Inu-Yasha?" Kagome asked.

Myoga chose this time to make his presence known once again.

"I believe the master is speaking of the inu youkai binding laws."

"'Inu youkai binding laws'?" everybody but Hagakure, Inu-Yasha, and Myoga asked.

"Yes," Myoga explained. "All dog demons must abide by the binding laws when they choose a mate. During mating--"

"Uh, Shippo, Hakaki," Kagome interrupted, "why don't you two go get Hagakure some water?"

"Why?" Shippo asked confused.

Hakaki tilted his head to one side in confusion as well. 

"Boys," Sango said, "Hagakure's been crying. Water helps make you feel better after you've cried."

"If it helps momma, then I'll do it!" Hakaki announced as he grabbed Shippo and a basket and headed for the nearby stream. 

Once the kits were safely out of hearing distance, Kagome beckoned Myoga to continue.

"As I was saying, during mating, the demons mark each other with a bite if they intend to actually produce. It proves that they were together and releases a poison into their blood. I'm actually immune to it…" Myoga mused.

Kagome gasped.

"I don't kill them, Kagome." Inu-Yasha said bluntly. "But it _will_ kill any other creature that drinks its fluids." 

Kagome blushed partially by thinking of what Inu-Yasha meant by 'fluids' and partially because she wasn't that stupid to think that a mated demon would die if it got poisoned from a bite from its mate. After all, if that were the case then there would be hardly as many demons as there were.

"What do you mean?" Miroku asked, either having missed the point of Kagome's blush entirely or getting it completely and feeling the need to embarrass the girls more. 

"It means," Myoga said in a tired voice, "that if another creature comes into contact with a mated demon's fluids: blood, saliva, or any others, it will get poisoned and probably die." 

"Oh."

"What does this have to do with Shiro leaving?" Sango asked from her new position beside Hagakure.

"That is just one of the conditions." Myoga said. "Another is a bonding spell."

Inu-Yasha growled.

"Myoga, you're saying it too complicated." 

"Well then you try!" Myoga shouted from Inu-Yasha's shoulder.

"Maybe I will!" Inu-Yasha growled as he squished Myoga. With a look of satisfaction, he continued. "What the flea was trying to say was that once a demon…uh…has a mate and has been marked…that it…umm…"

Inu-Yasha looked around as if searching for the right words.

"That it what, Inu-Yasha?" Miroku asked.

"Will you shut up already!? I'm trying to think here!" Inu-Yasha snapped.

"Wow, and to think I thought that grinding noise was my alarm clock…" Kagome said under her breath.

"I heard that, bitch!"

Sango sighed.

"Inu-Yasha, just think about what you were trying to say."

"Okay, I got it now." Inu-Yasha said, slamming his fists together for effect. "The same poisons that kill the other demon that it comes in contact with, reacts if one of the mates leaves. It causes unbearable agony until the mates are back together."

Everybody stared at him with blank looks on their faces.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Miroku asked.

"Myoga," Kagome said, "translation please."

Inu-Yasha growled menacingly at the girl who ignored him in favor of the flea.

"What he means is," Myoga translated, "the same toxins that prove the mates to each other, will react if one of the pair leaves. By leaving, I mean going out in search of a different mate, breaking loyalty, or just upping it and abandoning its mate."

A collective "Oh" was heard throughout the group.

"But, Myoga," Hagakure sniffed, "what other explanation is there for Shiro disappearing?"

Myoga looked thoughtfully at the demoness. The reason Shiro left was not because of her physical attributes; that was for sure: even pregnant she was a beauty. 

"Hagakure," Myoga asked, "did Shiro want a pup?"

Hagakure nodded her head vehemently.

"He did. He even asked me that night if I wanted a pup. He could smell that I would have one if we…uh, you know. Besides, he would have needed one eventually to become his heir."

"Heir?" everyone asked.

"Heir to the Eastern Lands."

"Eastern Lands?!" everyone shouted.

Hagakure blushed slightly.

"I guess I forgot to tell you," she said as she twirled one of her raven locks. "Shiro is Lord of the Eastern Lands."

"How could you forget to tell us that?!" Inu-Yasha shouted.

"You're royalty?!" Kagome gushed.

Hakaki and Shippo chose to make their reappearance at that precise moment. 

"Who's royalty?" Shippo asked.

"Momma and her mate are." Hakaki said as he handed the water to his mother.

As Hagakure sipped at the water, Kagome noticed that Hakaki had never, in her presence at least, called Shiro his father. It would have made sense if he called Hagakure by her name as well, but he didn't. Kagome got the feeling that Hakaki didn't like Shiro all too much. It might have had something to do with that 'interesting conversation' Hagakure had said she'd had with Shiro before adopting the orphaned kit.

"We can ponder on this tomorrow," Miroku said ending the conversation.

"Yah, I am pretty tired." Kagome said through a yawn.

Sango and Hagakure nodded their agreement. Inu-Yasha looked like he was about to protest, but the threatening looks he caught in the corner of his eye made him do a drastic rethink.

"Feh. Go to sleep. You'll be more useful if you're rested."

Kagome smiled to herself as snuggled into her sleeping bag. She knew it was just Inu-Yasha's way of showing concern and a little bit of fear of her wrath. That big chicken.

~*~*~

Inu-Yasha watched from a tree as the group slept peacefully. Shippo had snuggled up with Kagome and Hakaki had snuggled with Hagakure. Sango slept with Kirara far away from Miroku.

Inu-Yasha's lips tugged up in the corners in a smile. In a weird way he felt as if this was truly where he belonged. That they were truly his…family…dysfunctional though they were.

***************

Urm… a bit of a notice. I realize the beginning sounds a bit like Purple_Sakura44's fic **Tears of Joy** but I swear to God I hadn't read it before I started this! Don't worry… the overall storyline is MUCH different. ^^

Like? Me does. Oooo~ and I can't wait till later… I have loads of things planned out for this little group. *snickers evilly* I'm not so sure if everyone will get a happy ending though… 

Thanx for your reviews! opinions, comments, suggestions, questions of my sanity…? Leave 'em in your REVIEW! And if you didn't review the other chapters… GO BACK AND DO IT NOW! ^^

(Teaser)

Next Chapter: **The Path Taken**

__

Just as the attack was about to strike, Naraku stepped aside to reveal a small child. She had long black hair, burning amber eyes, and small black dog-ears. 

"Hi, Inu!" she called out to him.

"Hagakure…?" Inu-Yasha asked stupefied.

Naraku smirked.

"When I die," Naraku laughed maliciously, "I'll take her with me."


	4. The Path Taken

Disclaimer: I don't own Inu-Yasha or any of its characters. I simply abuse them for my own twisted means of amusement.

[A/N] Okies! It gets a bit sappy in this chapter. Sorry, but I couldn't resist! I had this really pretty poem thingy that I wrote and I couldn't wait to use it somewhere! Not much dialogue in here… looks for it points down at pages 2 &4 DIALECT ahoy!

Raven: No more candy for you…

Netiri: you wouldn't dare…¬ .¬

The Path Taken

Inu-Yasha stood with the Tetsusaiga nearly alone in a field. Naraku stood poised before him, his minions having long ago deserted him.

"I'm going to kill you now!" Inu-Yasha shouted as he charged Naraku down.

Naraku easily dodged and lashed out at Inu-Yasha with a black, lightning-like bolt. It narrowly missed. Inu-Yasha attacked, using the Backlash Wave to harness Naraku's own power and use it against him.

Just as the attack was about to strike, Naraku stepped aside to reveal a small child. She had long black hair, burning amber eyes, and small black dog-ears.

"Hi, Inu!" she called out to him.

"Hagakure…?" Inu-Yasha asked stupefied.

Naraku smirked.

"When I die," Naraku laughed maliciously, "I'll take her with me."

Naraku grabbed the young Hagakure by the shoulders. She let out a small, terrified scream as she struggled to move away from her captor and the whirlwind type attacks that were headed her way.

"Kure! No!" Inu-Yasha called desperately to the girl as he rushed towards her.

Inu-Yasha was thrown back by the Tetsusaiga, its will for him to live stronger than ever. He watched, helpless as a puppy, as the Backlash Wave destroyed both of them, friend and foe, leaving not even ashes behind.

Inu-Yasha woke with a start, his heart rate and breathing rapid. He looked down into the clearing to see everybody peacefully dozing. He sat back and tried to calm himself.

"What the hell kind of dream was that?" He asked the tree. _Is it supposed to mean something? Why was the young Hagakure with Naraku?_

The wind blew softly through the branches causing the leaves to rustle, perhaps in an answer. An answer that Inu-Yasha didn't particularly understand.

"What does THAT mean, you stupid moron?!"

Hagakure woke at that sudden outburst. She scanned the area quickly and, finding no danger, fixated her gaze on the tree where she knew Inu-Yasha was. She silently moved Hakaki over and stood with a bit of difficulty. The others were still asleep.

Hagakure silently walked over to the base of the tree and leaned against the trunk. She watched amused as Inu-Yasha argued with the tree knowing damn well that it couldn't answer back.

"After all these years," Hagakure called up to him shaking her head, "and you still have problems with trees."

Inu-Yasha stopped his current insult and looked down at the demoness at the base of the tree. She smirked at him.

"Feh! Shows what you know." Inu-Yasha said as he came down from the tree.

Hagakure could smell the fear and worry that radiated off him.

"Have a nightmare?" she asked.

"Demons don't have nightmares." Inu-Yasha snorted, folding his arms and looking away.

"Is that so…?" Hagakure asked. "Then I'm no demon."

Hagakure placed one clawed hand on Inu-Yasha's arm. He raised his eyebrows, a flush creeping on his cheeks as he looked at her.

"Now what's that look for?" she asked him. "Is it against some law to touch you? You were never like this before."

Hagakure giggled.

"I get it now! You were dreaming of Kagome!"

"Why would I do that?!"

"Well," Hagakure said, "You blushed when I touched you, you were cursing out a tree for answers it couldn't give, and you woke up from a nightmare that obviously left you troubled."

"I **DID NOT **have a nightmare!" Inu-Yasha growled indignantly.

Hagakure smirked.

"Inu-Yasha, the only kind of dreams that could have this type of effect on you would be ones where you, your friends, or the one you think of as your mate is threatened or hurt in some way."

"I don't have a mate…" Inu-Yasha said quietly. Then he caught the meaning of Hagakure's smirk. "I DO NOT THINK OF KAGOME AS MY MATE!"

Hagakure snickered.

"The things resting in your subconscious say differently," she mocked.

Inu-Yasha glared at her.

"I hate you." he said, his tone even and foreboding.

"Glad to hear it!"

He smelt it again; that terribly vile scent that he'd become accustomed to after so long in the darkness; the scent that hopelessly lingered around him like a dark cloud; it was stronger than before. The bearer must be closer now.

"Shiro…"

A masculine voice toyed with his name, like a puppet on a string.

"Who are you?!" Shiro barked. "Show yourself!"

The cave-like room he was in lit up. Shiro squinted and shielded his eyes from the light. He wasn't in a cave; that explained the floor's smooth feeling. He was in a dungeon type room with a low ceiling. In front of him stood a man with oily black hair, cruel red eyes, and a sinister smirk.

"My name is Naraku."

"Naraku…" Shiro growled.

"You are angry with me, your lordship?"

Shiro's growl rumbled in his chest and echoed off the stone walls. He was being mocked!

"Lord Shiro, don't be that way." Naraku taunted. "How would your mate react?"

Shiro's head snapped to full attention. His eyes glared at the disgusting creature before him, narrowing into slits. Shiro struggled to move; he was rapidly becoming weaker. How? What was happening to him?

"If you touch her…" he growled, still struggling to rise.

"No need to get testy. She is safe, for the time being."

Shiro glared at the creature before him. He refused to call it a man; it didn't deserve the title.

"What do you want?" Shiro spat.

"That is simple," Naraku replied. "I want your holdings."

Shiro was smart; he knew that that wasn't all Naraku was after.

"Then why not just kill me and take them?"

Naraku laughed a sinister laugh.

"What fun would that be?"

"You sick bastard…"

Inu-Yasha walked ahead of the group, standard practice for him. Hagakure, Sango, and Kagome slowly walked side-by-side. Miroku followed closely behind with both kits on his shoulders making sure he behaved.

The girls filled Hagakure in on the journey and what they were searching for and the like, adding a few girl-talk moments to see if the boys were listening. At the pink flush that stained Inu-Yasha's cheeks, they determined they were, thus making it a bad choice if they were to talk about Kikyo.

That in mind, they purposely steered away from that subject. Hagakure told them stories of her courting with Shiro instead.

"He was such a hopeless romantic." she giggled. "He always said such pretty things… I wish I were as good with words as him. I remember once…"

Flashback

_Shiro had led Hagakure to a beautiful willow tree. There was a quiet pond in front of it and there were flowers surrounding them. A quiet wind blew; it was light like a baby's breath._

Shiro sat down under the tree.

"Come here and sit down, Kure." he beckoned her.

Hagakure sat next to him.

"Not there, you goof ball," he scolded playfully. "Here." he said as he pulled her into his lap.

Hagakure blushed ever so slightly at being that close to him; her back pushed against his chest slightly. But who wouldn't? He was handsome, strong, and a reigning lord, but more important than that was that he seemed to love her.

Shiro wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her even closer. Hagakure felt the warmth from his breath and body and blushed even more. She felt goose bumps on her arms as Shiro lightly nibbled on her shoulder making his way further downward.

"Knock it off!" she scolded him playfully as she lightly swatted his nose.

Shiro moved his head back and snorted.

"As you wish, love."

Hagakure giggled and looked out over the flowers. She watched them as the soft wind played with them. They seemed to be dancing.

"Dancing for you, my love." Shiro whispered in her ear.

Shiro took in the flowers that were the entrapment of his soon-to-be mate's vision.

"The flowers bend with the wind in graceful motions." he whispered in her ear wooing her further. "Motions that the most skilled dancer could achieve only after years of practice, comes to these plants on the wind. So simple are these movements that it takes years to simplify yourself so that your ability is simple, like these flowers dancing on the wind. They concentrate on growing and changing, as must we all. Then we will be simple enough to dance on the wind."

"Then we became mates." Hagakure finished with a dopey smile plastered on her face.

"That is so beautiful!" Sango and Kagome exclaimed at the same time.

"I wish I could woo women with my words like that…" Miroku muttered under his breath.

Shippo and Hakaki shook their heads in disgust at the monk, not knowing fully what that meant but getting an idea considering it was _Miroku_ saying it.

"Wasn't it pretty, Inu-Yasha?" Kagome asked.

"Yeah, yeah. Could bring a tear to a glass eye." Inu-Yasha said with a dismissing wave of his hand. "Now get looking for the shards, ya lazy wench."

"Oh! You— you…! SIT!"

As the day wore on, the group came to a fork in the road. One pointed west, the other east.

"Which way should we go?" asked Sango.

"Whichever direction has a jewel shard, of course." Inu-Yasha snorted.

Kagome looked in both directions.

"I can't sense one in either direction. Maybe we should do Eeni-meani-miny-moe?"

Everybody looked at Kagome, confused with the unrecognizable phrase.

"Eeni-meani-what?" Sango asked.

"It's a game," Kagome explained, "that is supposed to help you pick things."

A collective "oh" was heard throughout the group.

"We're going east." Hagakure said firmly.

"Why?" Sango asked.

"Call it intuition," Hagakure said.

"West," Inu-Yasha said.

"Now you're just being disagreeable." Miroku sighed. "Besides, you never go against a woman's intuition."

Sango stared at him blankly.

"What?"

"If you stopped going against my intuition, you'd get slapped a lot less."

Miroku rubbed the back of his neck embarrassed.

"I guess you're right!"

"Sango's always right when it comes to you, Miroku." Shippo sighed shaking his head.

After much heated deliberation (which ended abruptly with a sit from Kagome and a curse from Inu-Yasha), the group decided to go east.

Inu-Yasha was hot, sweaty, and, for all intents and purposes, it could be said that he didn't give a shit. His actions, or lack there of, could be justified by the nearly motionless objects now lying below him.

Normally, there would have been an upstart if Kagome had even suggested that she would like to nap during the afternoon. Most likely she would have been supported by her other companions on an afternoon such as this, and that would have vexed Inu-Yasha to no known extent and caused everybody an unnecessary headache. Surprisingly though, when the subject came up, Inu-Yasha agreed.

Inu-Yasha looked out over the group. Hagakure slept in the shade of a tree near Sango and Kagome; yet she was far enough away to keep their body heat from radiating to each other, making them warmer. Shippo and Hakaki had attempted to make use of the free time for playing, but in the end the heat beat them out. They now slept next to each other looking every bit like a pair of kitsune brothers. Miroku rested against the tree trunk directly below Inu-Yasha. That way, from his position in the tree, Inu-Yasha could watch Miroku and make sure he didn't try anything.

Something had changed, and it wasn't just the seemingly evil summer heat that had caused this sudden outcry for sleep among Inu-Yasha's human and not-so-human companions. It had something to do with Hagakure. Inu-Yasha couldn't tell what it was exactly, but her scent had changed. Not only that, she seemed to be picking on the males in the group.

They had been walking for the better part of the day in the heat, so maybe it was just the strain on her. Inu-Yasha had a feeling that it was somehow much more than that though.

Hagakure had been acting more than a little irritable after they come across that simple snake demon that had attacked. It had been killed easily enough, but a small amount of its 'demon slime', as Kagome had so lovingly dubbed it, had gotten on Hagakure. She had fussed over it to no end and ultimately made Inu-Yasha out to be the villain, calling him a 'stupid, messy mutt' and various other, rather unladylike names that could have made even **_Sesshomaru_** gasp. This was made worse when Kagome and Sango took her side; specifically, it had been "Sit, Inu-Yasha!" worse.

Not only had Hagakure become more irritable, she had also fussed over where she was currently sleeping. She made a little nest, growled and destroyed it when she laid down and felt a slight lump, then built another one. This was repeated five times until the bedding was satisfactory. Miroku had called it 'nesting'.

"Feh, whatever THAT means," Inu-Yasha said to himself, leaning his back against the tree further.

Then Inu-Yasha recalled another happening that had seemed out of character for Hagakure. She was being incredibly insulting to Miroku and even questioning his manhood. How somebody could question **_Miroku's _**manhood was beyond him, but Inu-Yasha had witnessed Hagakure do it. Though Miroku didn't look terribly insulted and had even joined in on the joking by agreeing with Hagakure on certain things, it had caused him to feel the need to show just _how_ much of a man he was. Namely, by groping Sango extensively. Then Sango decided that she needed to show Miroku how much of a pervert she thought he was by beating him over the head until he was nearly unconscious.

At the time, the others had thought this quite hilarious, and had laughed at the beaten and bruised Miroku. Now, however, Inu-Yasha realized just how out of character it was for Hagakure to act this way.

"What's wrong with her?" Inu-Yasha asked himself. Not really expecting a reply, Inu-Yasha jumped when Miroku said:

"Mood swings."

"You're awake?"

"I've been awake, and, let me say, the conversations you have with yourself are quite amusing."

"Feh." Inu-Yasha huffed as he jumped out of the tree to join Miroku on the ground. "Now what's this whole 'mood swings' thing?"

"A fine question." Miroku stated. "As you know, your dear friend Hagakure is with child and, naturally, not being able to see your feet, bend over, get up without help and having little to no control over your bladder would make one irritable. Yet, she's going to have a child. Her very first with who is undoubtedly the love of her life. Now, consider this: her mate— the one who did this to her— is nowhere to be found. How would you feel?"

"Like I could rip somebody's throat out and hug 'em at the same time." Inu-Yasha growled.

Miroku cleared his throat before continuing.

"Well let's be thankful that you could never get pregnant and that Hagakure has chosen to spout her anger in…less damaging ways. Now, you can see why I accepted all the abuse and grief she gave me earlier; I pity her and understand what she's going through."

Inu-Yasha leaned forward and rested his chin on his fist. He raised his eyebrows at that last comment.

"And just how would _you_ understand, monk?"

"I've been around enough pregnant women to know."

"WHAT?!" Inu-Yasha shouted in shock.

"Calm down, none were my doing." Miroku hushed him, wary of the types of blame Hagakure would pin on them if they woke her.

"Then how…?"

"I traveled all around Japan and assisted where I was needed before I came with you and Kagome. Occasionally there would be a young woman who would be ready to deliver, the healer would be busy or away because of war, and I would have to assist. _Now_ what do you think?"

"I think that those girls' husbands were crazy to let you near them."

"How did I know you were going to say something like that?" Miroku sighed.

HIYA! Well, I'm hyper right now. Okies! I got asked if Hakaki and Hagakure mean anything. Well Hagakure means "behind fallen leaves". Hakaki is just a name I made up. I have no clue if it's a real name with a meaning or not.

Thanx for the reviews! Please leave more! evil glare If you don't I'll hunt you down and gut you like a fish!

The first person who can tell me where: "I'll hunt you down and gut you like a fish!" comes from can be one of the wolves in the next chapter. Only the first though! And urm… you'll have to leave your gender and name you want me to use… I'm pretty dense when it comes to that stuff.

--Netiri-sama no Kitsune-hi

(teaser)

Next Chapter: **The New Moon's Gifts**

Heh, heh… urm didn't have this chappy written out before hand so…I'll just give you a summary of what I'm planning! Inu's human, Hagakure goes off on her own, Kouga appears and maybe Shiro will make an entrance somewhere…just maybe…

And to entertain you, a bit the cast's thoughts on the next chapter:

Inu: KOUGA?! HELL NO!

Kouga: HAHA, DOG TURD!

Hagakure, Sango & Kagome: vicious female growl

Miroku: over in the corner shaking It wasn't me!

Shippo: For once, you're right.

Hakaki: homicidal gleam I don't like Shiro…

Netiri: ¬ .¬ Riiiiiiight… backs away from Hakaki

[it took away my stars! NOOOOOOOO!]


	5. The New Moon's Gifts

****

Disclaimer: I don't own Inu-Yasha or any of its characters. I simply abuse them for my own twisted means of amusement.

****

[A/N:] okay, since ff.net has decided that we can't use the stars or squiggleies, I will have to use icky minus signs and underscores for dividers. [shudders] And now I have to put actions for my script written stories in []'s. [curses ff.net to all kinds of hells] [sigh] but we'll just have to deal with their crap, won't we?

And nobody guessed where the fish comment was from… Scream 1, I think… oh well!

— — — — — — — — — —

****

The New Moon's Gifts

Shiro stumbled slightly and breathed heavily.

He was bleeding…badly. Naraku had taken immense pleasure at desecrating Shiro's title by whipping him so thoroughly. It hadn't been a fair fight, mind you; if it had, Naraku surely would have met his death at the hands of one very enraged dog demon. Shiro had been tied up and weakened considerably with some type of spell.

His clothes were tattered into ruins and he was matted with blood. None of that mattered though. He'd gotten free. Now all he had to do was find Hagakure and hope she hadn't given up on him.

"I'll find you… I promise…"

He bit the inside of his cheek in an attempt to keep himself conscious. He wished it were the full moon so he could heal faster, but that wasn't going to happen. The full moon was a full week away. Tonight was the new moon.

"The dark moon… It figures… I'll have no light to guide me…except for you…Kure…"

With that he slumped to the ground, unable to stay conscious any longer.

— — — — **.**

Hagakure yawned and attempted to sit up. She found it was a bit harder than she'd thought. It was starting to get a little darker and the sky was an amazing shade of blended purples, blues, reds, and pinks. Rolling onto her side, she did eventually manage to get up.

"I'll be glad when I get this pup out of me…" she half growled, half giggled.

Inu-Yasha heard her talking like that.

"You shouldn't joke around like that, Kure," he said.

Hagakure jumped at his nearness. She had been so tired she hadn't detected him. Now that she sniffed, he didn't smell the same either.

"So its tonight, then…" she mused.

Inu-Yasha knew what she was talking about instantly. Tonight was the new moon; the night he became human. He nodded his head.

"I guess you'd be pretty scared about that, huh Inu?" she asked.

"A little bit, I guess. But wouldn't you be? I mean, tonight I'll be at the mercy of all the demons in this forest and I won't be able to protect myself."

"What about Sango and Miroku?" Hagakure asked motioning at the sleeping humans in turns. She noticed that Miroku had moved himself much closer to Sango than she would have allowed had she been awake.

"I know they'd lay their lives down for me— we'd all do it for each other— but that still doesn't make me worry less."

"Do you want to get stronger?" Hagakure asked him.

"Of course! I always want to be stronger!"

"Then come here…" she beckoned him to sit next to her.

Inu-Yasha did as she told. After all, he didn't want Hagakure to take all her frustration out on him. She knelt beside him, unable to sit cross-legged because of her delicate condition and attire.

"Close your eyes. Take a deep breath. Look deep inside yourself," Hagakure said calmly. "What do you see?"

Inu-Yasha raised his eyebrows but tried to do what he was told. After all, he did want to get stronger. He knotted his brows in thought.

"I see…blood, guts, and bones."

Hagakure was shaken out of her calmed state and her eyes flew open. Her expression was like she had just sniffed a pile of dung and was confused about why it smelled bad. She peered over at her 'pupil' to see if he was just trying to be a smart ass or really couldn't think of anything else to say. She determined it was the latter by the thoughtful look on his face.

"Well…that's a start…" she said, exasperated.

"Really?!" Inu-Yasha asked as he opened his eyes.

"No…"

Kagome watched the two amused. The extremely conflicting and shifty expressions on their faces made it all too comical to bear. Kagome lost all control she had over herself when she saw the confused and slightly horrified look on Hagakure's face.

Inu-Yasha looked over when Kagome toppled over laughing. Shippo and Hakaki woke up, as did Sango and Miroku.

As she sat up, Sango wondered why Kagome was literally rolling on the ground laughing. She looked at Inu-Yasha and Hagakure to see the confused looks plastered on their faces. Hakaki had raised eyebrows and was staring at Kagome with a 'what the hell is your problem?' look on his face. Shippo was just as confused. And Miroku…where was he, anyway?

Sango looked over to her left and saw Miroku lying very closely next to her, his head propped up on his hand. Her eyes flew open at the nearness of him. He was practically on top of her!

"**PERVERT**!" Sango shouted.

The sound that resounded from the slap she gave him echoed off the mountains and scared furry woodland creatures out of their homes. It made Inu-Yasha flinch and Kagome stop her seemingly endless bout of laughter; Hagakure hid behind a tree, with Shippo and Hakaki shortly following her.

And Miroku… Poor, poor, Miroku.

"Look at all the pretty lights!" he exclaimed drunkenly before falling into unconsciousness.

Shippo, being the child he was, came over to the unconscious monk with a stick in hand. Hakaki shortly followed.

"Is he dead?" Hakaki asked as Shippo poked him with the stick.

"I don't know…" he said between pokes. "But he ain't moving…"

Hakaki sniffed Miroku. Then he put his hand over his nose.

"He smells dead."

Shippo sniffed.

"Sure does. He's gotta be dead." Shippo said with a final poke.

Hagakure and Kagome stifled a giggle. Inu-Yasha just stared at the two kitsune kits that had just proclaimed Miroku dead. Sango got an evil edge in her eyes.

"Boys, if you want to see if he's really dead all you have to do is jump on his— "

"I'm ALIVE!" Miroku shouted as he sat up.

Unfortunately, he sat up so fast that Sango didn't have time enough to get away. This resulted in a head-on-head collision.

"Owy…" both said before falling back to the ground unconscious and on top of each other.

"That was…interesting…" Kagome said staring at the unconscious pair.

"'Interesting' isn't the word I was thinking of…" Hagakure said looking on.

— — — — .

It was getting darker; not only the sky, but Inu-Yasha's hair as well. Hagakure watched in amazement as his ears shifted and his claws disappeared.

"All the years I've lived and I've just now seen a hanyou transform." Hagakure stated.

"Its weird, isn't it?" Kagome asked, gawking at Inu-Yasha.

"Gee, thanks for making me feel right at home, Kagome." Inu-Yasha said dryly while looking at her.

"She was only joking, Inu-Yasha." Miroku said from across the fire.

He and Sango had woken up roughly around the same time— meaning of course, Miroku had gotten up before Sango. She had gotten angry when she saw her sleeping position, noticed that Miroku hadn't moved her, and the rest was blurry. Sango had hit him, he was sure— the pain and handprint on his cheek told him that— and now she was avoiding him, making sure Kirara was always between them.

"I'm not that stupid, Miroku." Inu-Yasha scoffed.

Hagakure felt a sharp pain in her abdomen. It was severe but short-lived and afterwards she felt a huge pressure release from between her legs, leaving her feeling very wet. She had a need to be alone right then.

"I'm going for a dip in the hot springs…" Hagakure announced as she stood up.

Normally Sango and Kagome would have jumped at the chance to go to a hot spring, but it was simply too warm outside. Why Hagakure wanted to be was beyond them. Maybe to release the tension in her muscles?

"Call us if you need anything." Sango said.

Hagakure nodded her agreement before walking off.

Hakaki watched her go, staring intently at the liquid that was trickling down her legs. He glanced at Kagome and Sango to see that hadn't noticed or, if they had, didn't appear to be very worried. He looked at Miroku and Inu-Yasha to see that they were in what appeared to be a very in depth conversation.

"Stupid letch! Do you think I'd actually fall for that?!"

"Honest, Inu-Yasha! I have to go to the little monks' bush!"

"NO!"

"But I fear I shall burst!"

"You can hold it!"

Hakaki shook his head.

Oh, yes…_VERY_ in depth…

— — — — .

Hagakure found herself past the hot spring and out in a clearing with a small river running through it. She was downwind and could have smelled anyone that approached her, but that was of little use now because she was in increasing amounts of pain and was practically oblivious to her surroundings. Her spasms were roughly around eight minutes apart and slowly growing closer and more severe.

She groaned in pain and fell to her knees clutching her stomach.

A small splash was heard and a man with long, dark brown hair looked up from the water. What little light there was from the stars made the beads of water rolling off him glisten.

He saw a female form on the ground and she appeared to be in much pain. He tried to scent her but he was upwind and it proved to be of no use. He quickly grabbed his clothing and dressed, feeling a strong need to see what was the matter with this female. And, more importantly, why she was in his territory alone.

As he got closer, he could clearly smell the strong scent of pre-birth on her. Intermingled was the smell of Kagome and the others.

Were they nearby? How did their scent get on her? All these thoughts were racing through his mind as he picked up the somewhat shaking and very much pained female.

"I don't know how," he said, "but you smell of Kagome. If you're her friend, I have to take care of you."

She stared at him in shock for a moment; then another spasm hit her and she yelped in pain with her tail involuntarily twitching and nodded in agreement. He carried her off towards his den, his quick pace creating a whirlwind behind him.

— — — — .

Shiro woke to see that it was dark out. No moon lit the sky and he could barely see in front of himself. He forced himself to get up.

"Damn it… I must have fainted…" he said noticing the blood that covered him and leaning on the tree he was slumped under for support.

Shiro walked a few wobbly steps before straightening himself out. He scented the air and picked up the heavy scent of wolves.

"Heh… They made themselves right at home after I left, I see." Shiro remarked. "Once I'm back to normal, they'll be gone."

He began to walk slowly in the direction where he knew there was most likely a hot spring. Warm night or not, his muscles needed to relax and the warm water of the spring was just the thing to do it.

How he wished Hagakure were there to join him though…

— — — — .

"Ginta! Hakaku!" the wolf shouted as he arrived at what was obviously his den with Hagakure in his arms.

She was writhing in pain and he didn't know how much longer she had before she would jut have the pup out on the mountainside.

Almost instantly, the two called upon demons were out and raced up to their leader.

"Yes Kouga?" one asked.

The other looked at the female in his arms.

"Who's she?" he asked.

"I don't know, but she's gonna pup and she's friends with Kagome." the one, now identified as Kouga, said. "Hakaku, go inside and tell the old hunch what's going on. Ginta, help me get her inside."

They both nodded and did as they were told.

Hagakure watched as she was carefully brought under the waterfall that guarded the entrance to the den without getting so much as a single drip on her.

Once inside, she wished she were back out. Hundreds of wolves were cluttered in the cave and all appeared to be staring at her. The majority was male, though she could see some females sympathetically looking down on her.

Kouga and Ginta carried her to the back of the den where she was laid out carefully on a warm straw bedding. An older female wolf, obviously the midwife, was led to the sectioned off part of the den by Hakaku. Behind her were three younger females that looked like they were apprentices.

"This is Shinta. She'll help you," Kouga calmly explained as he pushed a stray piece of hair out of Hagakure's face.

Shinta was tall for a female and as to why Kouga called her 'the old hunch' Hagakure didn't have an honest clue. Shinta had long brown hair that was tied back into a messy bun and piercing green eyes. Her tail was curled in an odd direction and angle, leaving her looking off balance. Her limbs were long and thin, making her good with getting into odd places.

The older wolf pushed her way past Kouga and knelt down by Hagakure's side.

"Your first?" she asked as she began to undo the trappings of her kimono carefully.

Hagakure nodded and winced.

Shinta looked over her shoulder to see that Kouga, Ginta, Hakaku, and a few other curious males were crowding around.

"Be gone!" She commanded. "Have you no sense of privacy?!"

Even Kouga yelped at the serious and slightly threatening tone in her voice. They all complied, leaving the females to do their work.

— — — —

Inu-Yasha was starting to get worried. Hagakure had been gone for quite a while and he could've sworn he'd heard her yelp a little while ago.

__

Then again, Inu-Yasha thought looking at the beaten and bruised Miroku, _that could've just been the letch…_

— — — —

****

Hagakure yelped in obvious pain at the need to squeeze something the size of a watermelon through something the size of a strawberry.

"I hate men!" Hagakure declared with a push. "I'm gonna…castrate Shiro when I see him!"

Kouga was a bit anxious now. He wasn't sure if he wanted to submit a female he loved to that kind of pain just to get an heir. Especially if it would make her resent him in the long run enough to make him not be able to have any more kids.

Kouga looked over at one of the male wolves that was a father.

"They always say that, Kouga." he assured his thoroughly shaken leader.

A large and deafening scream was heard and then the crying of a baby.

"A girl." Shinta declared, handing the small demoness to her mother.

Hagakure sat up best she could with help from one of the apprentices and took the baby. Hagakure looked every bit the part of proud mother, sweaty but smiling; if she'd been able, she would have run to show off her new pup to everybody she knew.

"Misoka." Hagakure declared. "Misoka for the night of the new moon."

Then Hagakure looked at the dark swirl of hair on her head as well as her fuzzy black ears. She played with one gently and giggled when it swiveled with her touch.

"And for her moonless black hair."

The other apprentices looked expectantly at Shinta, obviously waiting for further instructions.

"Ah…" Shinta mused, placing her hand on Hagakure's still swollen belly. "It appears your mate left you another surprise."

Hagakure squeaked.

"Another one?"

— — — —

"Okay, something's wrong!" Inu-Yasha burst suddenly.

This caused Miroku's inching hand to stop, Shippo and Hakaki's laughter to die in their throats, and Sango and Kagome's girlish conversation to stop.

"What do you mean?" Miroku asked, pulling his hand back so he wouldn't get into trouble.

"Kure's been gone for a long time." Inu-Yasha growled through his very human teeth. "Too long."

"We should go check on her!" Miroku declared standing up and making to walk towards the hot springs.

"Not so fast, monk." Sango growled as she grabbed the edge of Miroku's robes.

Hakaki's formerly childish and playful expression disappeared.

"Do you think something bad happened to Mama?" Hakaki asked Kagome, his eyes showing fear and concern.

"I'm sure she's okay, Hakaki." Kagome reassured him. "We'll just go check on her, okay?"

Hakaki nodded.

Sango yanked Miroku back down to a sitting position.

"You stay here." she said, giving him a threatening glare before leaving with Kagome.

Shippo and Hakaki were torn between going with the girls and staying with the boys. Eventually, they came to the decision to stay with the boys for two reasons. One: they had to watch Miroku. Two: if something _had _happened to Hagakure, they didn't want to be around to see it. Hakaki couldn't take loosing another parent.

— — — —

"Push, girl!" Shinta coached.

"This isn't exactly easy!" Hagakure shouted.

These were the shouts that Kouga and the rest of the wolves heard coming from the small group in the back.

Kouga looked down at the small girl in his arms. She had crystal blue eyes, black ears and a small swirl of black hair. She was tailless— a trait undoubtedly from her father— but nonetheless beautiful for it.

Her childish beauty made him want one for his own. She wasn't his and that fact made him feel a little awkward as he held her at the mouth of the cave looking through the waterfall at the moonless sky. Her father should be the first male to hold her, not him— a stranger that happened to be in a caring mood when he saw a female in pain.

As he thought of her father, numerous questions popped into his mind. Who was he? Where was he? And, most importantly, why the hell did the girl he held in his arms smell so familiar?

Soon, a string of insults and curses that made Kouga blush could be heard and was soon followed by the squalling of a baby.

Hagakure looked down at her new son. He was beautiful. He had silver, black-tipped ears and silver hair just like his father. His eyes were glittering topaz and he was— like his sister— tailless.

"Nozomu." Hagakure declared. "For his hair, which is so like the full moon."

After Shinta gave him the okay, Kouga came to the rear of the den, carrying Misoka in his arms as delicately as if she were glass. He handed her to Hagakure and watched as she cooed both of her twins to sleep.

"My two moons…Misoka and Nozomu." she said taking in their scent. She looked over at Kouga. "My name is Hagakure. I don't believe I had a chance to tell you before."

Kouga shook his head.

"You had a good excuse, unlike me. My name is Kouga."

Hagakure took his hand and shook it without waking her two sleeping pups.

"I do believe I wouldn't have heard you anyway."

Kouga chuckled quietly.

"I guess you're right."

— — — —

Sango and Kagome came back to the boys out of breath. They had obviously run all the way back.

"She's not…there." Kagome said between pants.

"What do you mean she's not there?!" Inu-Yasha shouted as he stood up.

"She's not…at…the springs." Sango explained while catching her breath.

"Why tonight?!" Inu-Yasha moaned.

"We gotta find Mama…" Hakaki sobbed. "Kagome, we gotta find her!"

"It's okay, Hakaki," Kagome consoled the now crying kit. "We'll find her. Shh…"

.

.

****

[A/N:] the part where liquid was trickling down her legs was actually her water breaking. I just had to clear that up so some people wouldn't think she'd peed herself or something like that. Work with me here! I don't know what they used to measure time in Feudal Japan! And even if I did, I wouldn't know how to convert it. Once again, pairings are: Inu/Kag, Mir/San, OC/OC (just in case you people were getting ideas about Kure and Kouga…)

Enough with the actual intelligent part of the notes that actually MEAN something…its now time for my ranting and stupid commentary! I bet you thought **_Miroku_** was going to deliver the baby! HA! I like doing the unexpected… I personally liked the bit about the 'little monks' bush'. I don't know where that came from… but I like it! I also liked the part about what Inu-Yasha sees inside himself. Does anybody know where that's from? Cookie if you get it!

(teaser)

Next chapter: **Blue and Gold**

Once again, not written before hand… but um… here's what's going down: Hagakure brings the pups back to the group escorted by Kouga, Inu-Yasha and Kouga are bound to get into a scrap over Kagome, and Shiro will be making a more prominent entrance. What happened with Naraku will be explained after the loverly reunion with Shiro and Kure. And what about Hakaki? How's HE gonna deal? Poor kit…

I think I'll just do summaries from now on, kay? It's easier…

****

--Netiri-sama no Kitsune-hi


	6. Blue and Gold

****

Disclaimer: I don't own Inu-Yasha or any of its characters. I simply abuse them for my own twisted means of amusement.

****

[A/N:] okies, finally, after a week or two of sitting on my ass doing nothing, I got my act together and started to write. So…here goes…

****

— — — — — —

Blue and Gold

Shiro stumbled his way in the direction of the hot springs. For a second, he thought he scented Hagakure; soon it was dismissed as just the passing breeze toying with his— at the moment— fragile mentality.

"She wouldn't be out here…" Shiro assured himself; he wasn't very convincing.

He looked up at the sky. A shooting star was making its way past in the moonless sky.

__

For my mate…be safe…

****

— — — —

They had been searching the forest surrounding the hot springs for a good four hours with no luck what so ever.

Kagome held Hakaki who had just recently stopped crying; he had fallen asleep sniffling. It was quite late— surely almost morning by now— and it had been a wonder he hadn't dozed off sooner like Shippo.

"I need to take a break." Kagome yawned.

Inu-Yasha growled but got a glare that just reeked of _obey-me-or-die _from Kagome. He nodded sharply and everybody sighed.

"Hey," Sango gasped as she was sitting down, "look over there!"

"What is it?" everybody asked looking over to Sango.

"An indent in the grass…" Sango explained taking a step towards it. "It looks like somebody was laying down here."

Kirara went up to the spot in the glistening grass. She sniffed it then returned to her mistress's side.

"What is it, Kirara?" Sango asked her pet.

Kirara mewed and tried to make the group understand as best she could. After about five minutes of listening to her kitty-level explaining, Miroku groaned.

"This is going nowhere fast."

"Its better than running around in circles!" Inu-Yasha barked.

****

— — — —

Hagakure giggled and playfully batted Misoka's nose. Her daughter had woken up and yanked her mother's hair.

"Misoka, you're such a bad little girl already." Hagakure said playfully.

Nozomu woke and looked up at his mother. He blinked at her. Hagakure put her finger on his lips. He nipped her and she gasped slightly but then smiled when he licked her finger.

"You two are going to be trouble."

Kouga watched with interest as Hagakure interacted with her new pups. For a first time mother, she knew what to do amazingly well.

"Quit staring, Kouga." Shinta said playfully as she nudged him. "You trying to catch her feeding them or something?"

"WHAT?! NO! I'm just amazed." Kouga defended himself to the older wolf, tearing his eyes away to look at Shinta. "How does she know what to do?"

"Instinct mostly," Shinta explained casually. "You haven't seen very many new mothers have you?"

"Not really." Kouga confessed.

Shinta patted him on the back.

"You're doing well then. You didn't faint when she passed the after birth."

"After birth?" Kouga asked with a confused expression.

Shinta pointed to a bloody, jellylike pile in the corner of the cave. Kouga looked over, saw it, and his eyes rolled up into his head as he collapsed to the ground. Shinta watched with an amused expression.

"Was is something I said?" she asked innocently.

****

— — — —

Kagome was roughly jostled awake by Inu-Yasha. Evidentially, the sun was now up and he was eager to be on his way because of his returned powers.

"I can scent her," he stated as Kagome was hauled onto his back. "She's with…Kouga and his pack."

Kagome nodded her head at the familiar name. Kouga…the wolf prince…

Kagome sighed with relief. She knew Kouga; he'd scent her on Hagakure, guess that they were friends (or acquaintances at least), and take very good care of her to get on Kagome's good side. Indeed, Hagakure was in the best of care. Why she was with him at all, however, was a question that Kagome hoped to have answered soon.

Hakaki looked around wide-eyed. He took in the scent of wolves for the first time and nearly hit himself; it was everywhere! How could he have missed it?! His mother was probably in danger and he was stupid enough to miss such an obvious scent! Then again, he was pretty exhausted and depressed last night with the thought of losing his foster mother becoming more deeply lodged in his mind.

"Let's get going." Sango said as Kirara transformed to allow her mistress a nice ride.

Inu-Yasha nodded and took off at break-neck speed with Kagome hanging on for dear life with Shippo firmly tucked between them. Behind them were Sango, Miroku, and Hakaki riding on Kirara.

Inu-Yasha and the others came to a sudden stop when an all-too-familiar wolf demon appeared in front of him. At his side was Hagakure who had two small bundles with her.

"How you doin, dog turd?" Kouga greeted with arrogance.

Inu-Yasha growled at the demon but, for the most part, ignored his comment in favor of his companion.

Hakaki sprung up from Kirara's back and flung himself at Hagakure.

"Momma!" he said excitedly at her feet.

Hagakure knelt down to come face to face with him.

"This is Nozomu and Misoka," she stated pointing to each in turn. "Your new brother and sister."

"OHMIGAWD!" both Sango and Kagome exclaimed rushing up to Hagakure, oblivious or not caring that Kouga was standing in such close proximity. "They're sooo adorable!"

Inu-Yasha watched with curiosity that mirrored Hakaki and Shippo's as Hagakure showed off the two pups; Miroku raised his eyebrows, walked over, and watched. Kouga looked on as well, his rival having been forgotten for the moment. It was utterly amazing to see the girls doting over the new pups.

"They're so cute!" Kagome exclaimed quietly as Hagakure let her hold Misoka.

The little dog demoness stared at Kagome, her icy clear blue eyes wide and curious. She reached up a tiny, slightly clawed hand and grabbed the finger that was offered her. Kagome blabbered something in baby talk that made the little Misoka giggle and coo.

Sango held Nozomu. He stared at her with those wide golden eyes that only a newborn could posses. She traced the silky soft baby fur on his ear and he giggled and swayed his arms around with delight.

Miroku watched Sango interact with Nozomu. She looked so intent and in touch with everything he wanted. Miroku sighed; Sango would be a great mother to, hopefully, his children.

He wasn't very open with his feelings to others but he was always open with himself; he knew some part of him had always wanted Sango by his side forever. One wouldn't think it by the way he always groped her whenever they were caught in an intimate situation but, the truth was, he groped to keep her safe. He didn't want her to get too close to him, only to hurt her by eventually being torn away by that dreaded curse of Naraku's. Not only that, he wanted to keep her physically safe. His own mother had died in childbirth having him, cursed as he was; Miroku didn't want that for Sango. He didn't want that for any woman.

Besides, he wanted to be involved with his children as they grew up. He wanted them to have a real childhood with a father and mother; something he did without. If he didn't kill Naraku in time, he would have rather have his family line end than to leave a child alone in the world.

After Naraku was dead and he was guaranteed to be in the life of her and his future children… Then, and only then, he would seriously ask Sango to stay with him forever as his wife and to bear his children.

Shippo and Hakaki were on Hagakure's shoulders looking down at the pups.

"They're so little…" Shippo commented.

Hakaki nodded in agreement.

"You were that little once too." Hagakure told them pointedly.

"Nuh-uh!" Shippo said shaking his head vehemently. "I've always been big and strong!"

Hagakure laughed quietly and patted both kits on the head.

Inu-Yasha, tired of hearing how cute the pups were, ambled over to see them for himself. He had to admit…they were rather cute. Shiro had sired a good lot.

Nozomu must have looked like his father; the only resemblance Inu-Yasha could see between him and Hagakure were their large topaz-gold eyes. He giggled in delight when somebody rubbed his ears but nipped them if he got half the chance. Misoka was a spitting image of her mother— if one didn't count her ice blue eyes and lack of a tail. She giggled and blew spit bubbles at Kagome and everybody else that looked at her.

Seeing Kagome holding the newborn in her arms stirred some mixed emotions from within Inu-Yasha. She would probably become a great mother. She cared for Shippo like he was her own, taking on all the necessary responsibilities of a mother, so, in essence, she already was one.

The only question in Inu-Yasha's mind, however, was who would be the father of her children. Surely she wouldn't pick him, a lowly half-breed bastard. Somehow that tore at his heart, thinking that she wouldn't accept him; nobody ever had. Then again, she had once said she didn't care what he was; had she really meant it though?

He remembered feeling like this group of misfits was truly his family before, but could that dream ever become reality?

It didn't really manner one way or the other though, being as she was from a completely different time period then he. She had often told all of them all too often that, while a girl her age here could already be married with children, in her time she was still quite young and only at the 'dating' (whatever that was) stage. The bottom line was that it was unacceptable for Kagome to even think about marrying yet.

****

— — — —

Shiro woke up from his face down position in the dirt; he never made it to the hot springs during the night. Instead, he found himself dangerously near to the wolves' den; the same wolves that he had driven out of his territory a few months back.

"Shit…" he growled as he struggled to sit up.

He was still in so much pain from his skirmish with Naraku. That stupid bastard thought he could break Shiro's spirit by hurting his body, but he was far from the truth. As long as he had the hope of finding his mate and, hopefully, his pup, he would always win out.

Shiro blinked his eyes tightly a few times to push away the blurriness that had come along with losing so much of his blood. He looked down on his tattered, ripped, and utterly destroyed clothes. They were covered in blood and mud; a few places were non-existent now.

He pushed himself up into a wavering standing position. He was angry at how weak he was; never before had he been so thoroughly whipped and still showing it after three days.

"Damn…Naraku…" Shiro growled as he took a few tentative steps towards a break in the trees.

Shiro stopped suddenly. There was a group of demons and humans standing in the clearing. There was a silver-haired hanyou, a monk, a demon slayer, a wolf, a woman dressed in strangest garb, and two kitsune kits— one of which he knew. The one he was really focused on however was the young dog demoness with two bundles securely in her arms.

"Hagakure…"

****

— — — —

Hagakure took her pups gently back from Kagome and Sango and held them protectively as Kouga and Inu-Yasha began growling at each other. Kagome sighed and shook her head as she took a place next to Sango and Miroku. Hagakure soon joined them to watch in disgust as the two began bickering.

"This happen much?" Hagakure asked with raised eyebrows.

"Sadly, yes." Miroku informed while nodding.

Shippo sighed. "I act better than they do…"

"Hagakure…"

Hagakure's head spun instantly towards the woods at the familiar voice. Inu-Yasha and Kouga stopped fighting to see what was causing the commotion. The others looked over as well.

Hagakure caught some movement in her eye from behind a tree. She handed her pups to Inu-Yasha who took them with a somewhat freaked out expression on his face. When he began fumbling around, Kouga and Miroku— they were closest— grabbed the twins out of his hands and held them protectively.

Hagakure cautiously meandered to the woods.

"Shiro…?" she asked quietly.

"Kure…?" the beaten up Shiro asked as he stepped from behind the tree.

Hagakure looked at her thoroughly beaten up mate. His long silver hair was matted with mud and blood; his ears were crusted in dried blood as well. Shiro's face was beaten, bruised, and bloodied; his left eye was nearly swollen shut. His clothes were tattered to ruins and he looked incredibly weak.

"Gods…Shiro…" Hagakure sniffled as she stepped closer. "I was starting to think you weren't…weren't coming back…"

"Kure…" Shiro soothed as he tried to walk towards her. "I'd never leave you…."

Shiro bumbled a few steps before he tripped. Hagakure knelt down in time to catch his face before it hit the ground.

"Shiro…" she sobbed while running her hands through his blood matted hair.

Shiro put his hand on her stomach gently.

"Did you…lose it?" he asked quietly.

"'Lose it'?" Hagakure questioned. "What do you mean, Shiro…?"

"The pup…" Shiro said quietly. "Did you lose the pup? You're not pregnant anymore…"

Hagakure smiled.

"You worry too much, love. My dear friends are holding them," she said motioning over to the group.

"…'Them'…?"

Shiro looked over to where Kouga and Miroku stood holding two bundles. Sango and Kagome smiled gently.

"You have a son and a daughter." Kagome said through her smile.

"Nozomu and Misoka." Sango informed with a nod.

Kouga and Miroku lowered the twins slightly so that Shiro could see.

Shiro sighed and lowered his head.

"I love you so much…" he said quietly into Hagakure's robes.

****

— — — —

Hagakure and Shiro had gone to the springs to bathe; everybody else was assigned to watch the pups and not to fight.

"This is stupid…" Inu-Yasha growled to Kagome as he held Misoka.

"Inu-Yasha…" Kagome sighed.

Misoka blew raspberries and reached her hand up.

"What do you want?" Inu-Yasha asked her, slightly annoyed.

By way of response, Misoka grabbed a lock of Inu-Yasha's hair and yanked it down.

"OUCH!" Inu-Yasha shouted.

Kagome giggled.

"Having trouble, Inu-Yasha?" Kouga asked with a smirk. He'd come up to stand next to Kagome.

"No," Inu-Yasha growled as he detached the pup from his hair. Misoka pouted.

Miroku ignored the argument that was bound to start in favor of Nozomu, which he held in his arms, and Hakaki and Shippo who were sitting in front of him. The children were receiving a love lesson from Miroku, the perverted monk. (How fitting is that?)

"…And then, as charming and polite as you can possibly be, you ask them." Miroku instructed.

Nozomu looked intently in Miroku's eyes like he was deeply entranced in thought. Shippo sighed in disgust and Hakaki raised his eyebrows.

"Understand…?" Miroku asked.

Nozomu conjured what seemed to be a nod; though, for a pup so young, it could have just been the way Miroku was holding him.

Sango watched Miroku talking to the pup and kits. While she didn't quite approve of the subject of the conversation, she was highly interested in the way Miroku was talking to them. His eyes lit up as he told the children how to woo a woman; he spoke with passion and light bouncy tones to keep their interest. Miroku definitely knew how to handle a child.

Sango found herself visualizing how Miroku would act with his own children.

__

He would probably make a great father…she mused to herself, conjuring mental images of him holding a newborn son or daughter. _He always has had a way with Shippo._

Sango sighed. It was just too bad that Miroku was always looking around. The stupid pervert considered every pretty girl to be his for the taking.

__

He never even once asked me to bear his child…Sango thought unhappily. _Not that I would have said yes, but still! It's the principle of the matter! He said he only asks pretty girls…so…does that mean I'm not pretty…? Stupid lecher…_

****

— — — —

Hagakure entered the water of the hot spring slowly with her mate. He was so badly bloodied up that you could hardly run your fingers an inch through his hair without finding a bloody mat.

"Shiro," Hagakure said quietly as she led him into the water, "what happened?"

"I shall tell you later," Shiro responded weakly but finally.

Hagakure nodded her understanding and walked further into the water with Shiro following closely at her side. She stopped and sat, expecting him to do the same so she could bathe him; he obliged.

Hagakure ran her hands through Shiro's now wet hair and untangled it along the way. She continued her attention until the mats of dried blood were scrubbed out and all that was left was shining silver; the only darkness in hair color was the black tips of his ears. During this time, both were surprisingly silent.

Shiro was content to simply take in his mate's presence. He had spent so long without her, that knowing she was so near calmed his nerves. Knowing he had sired two healthy pups put his mind nearly all the way at ease. One thing continued to nag at him though.

__

Naraku…

Shiro would get revenge for what that bastard had done to him and what he had threatened to do to his mate.

He was slightly jarred from his thoughts when Hagakure shifted to the front of him and began to wash his chest and face with her tail. He couldn't help but ogle her features as she moved.

Hagakure saw his reactions and giggled.

"Now Shiro…" she scolded playfully as her mate leaned forward and nipped at her shoulder.

"I know, Kure…" Shiro sighed in disappointment. "Not now…"

__

Not ever…he mentally groaned. His mate knew damn well what she was doing to him, but she didn't really care.

"Seductress and tormentor." Shiro accused through a sigh.

Hagakure giggled.

"If you want to look at it that way, love."

****

— — — —

"Sango…?" Shippo asked, abandoning Miroku's lesson, "Do you think maybe you should help Kagome?"

Sango looked over at where Kagome was, frantically trying to keep Kouga and Inu-Yasha from killing each other; especially with Misoka still protectively tucked away in Inu-Yasha's haori. Misoka looked like she was having a blast though; she even flung a baby claw and bit at Kouga when he got close enough for her to strike.

"Now this is a kid I like!" Inu-Yasha shouted with a gigantic smile on his face. "I want my kids to be exactly like this!"

Inu-Yasha would have blushed if he had realized what he'd just said out loud. Fortunately for Inu-Yasha, Kouga wasn't paying much attention and he was laughing to hard at the wolf's plight to notice anyway.

Kouga looked at the scratch and bite marks Misoka had given him. They weren't life threatening or even drawing blood, but it was the principle of the matter; he was the wolf prince and a mere pup— a female one no less— had marred him!

"The girl BIT me!" Kouga shouted in exasperation.

"Like I said," Inu-Yasha laughed, repositioning Misoka, "I like this kid."

Misoka then showed her appreciation of being liked by the hanyou by throwing up all down the front of his haori.

"GROSS!" Inu-Yasha shouted, nearly dropping the child. Kouga dropped to the ground laughing. Kagome quickly swooped in and grabbed Misoka.

"Inu-Yasha, you can wash it out in the river, for crying out loud!" Kagome shouted at him.

Inu-Yasha stripped off his red haori as quickly as possible.

Miroku was laughing nearly as hard as Kouga; he, like Inu-Yasha, got repaid with an infant spitting up on his robes. He didn't freak out nearly as much though.

"Sango, please come take the child. I need to go wash this," he said pointing to the spit up, "off."

Sango did as she was asked and sighed. Miroku disappeared with a grumbling Inu-Yasha along side him.

"Don't you dare touch Kagome, you stupid wolf!" Inu-Yasha called over his shoulder.

Hakaki sighed along with everybody else (excluding Kouga who was still laughing his ass off). Things with this group were almost as interesting as they were at home.

__

Home…

****

— — — —

[A/N:] for those of you who I know are a bit angry with me for calling Inu a bastard, know this: that is a term used for someone who doesn't know their father or was born as the result of an affair. Inu never really knew his father; he even said so himself! No _real_ insult was there, so NYEH! :P

Miroku: Way to be mature...

Netiri: Oh, bite me…

Miroku: Tempting proposition…

Inu: ugh…

Kouga: Keep that to yourself…

Raven: [sigh] Just review…

Next Chapter: **Homecoming**

Per usual, not written up. What I'm planning is, obviously, Inu and the rest go to Shiro's house (I'm not too sure about Kouga…what do you think?), the thing with Naraku will be explained, and we'll see if I can't just piss Shippo and Hakaki off a little.


	7. Homecoming

****

Disclaimer: I don't own Inu-Yasha or any of its characters. I simply abuse them for my own twisted means of amusement.

Just to let you know, my OCs for this chapter don't really play an important role. The only one I think might make another appearance is Aki… Even then, she won't be very important.

****

Netiri: I've decided to keep Kouga! [smiles toothily] I like the bath part…

****

Kouga: [growl] I'll kill you in your sleep…

****

Netiri: nn

****

Raven: …the girl is obsessed with yaoi-like situations…¬ .¬ V;;;

****

Netiri: this is more of a filler chappy…just to let ya know…

— — — — — —

****

Homecoming

— — — — — —

Kouga eyed the now cleaned up Shiro after he came from the springs with his mate. The dog looked very familiar to him somehow…

"Who are you?" Kouga asked with a slight growl.

"I am Shiro, Lord of the Eastern Lands. Who might you be, wolf?"

"I am Kouga, Prince of the wolves."

"I thought I recognized your scent." Shiro said with a smirk. "You inhabit my lands with that mangy pack of yours."

"I'll give you mangy…" Kouga threatened as he flexed his claws.

"Shiro!" Hagakure scolded her mate. "He helped me and this is how you repay him?!"

Shiro looked at her with mild shock as did Kouga.

"And you," she growled, turning to the prince, "you dare to challenge my mate?! An indirect challenge to me?!"

"N-no!" Kouga stuttered, withering under the demoness's gaze.

Inu-Yasha watched the scene highly amused. It was pretty damn near exactly what Kagome, Kouga, and Inu-Yasha went through every time they met; only there was the noticeable absence of someone being 'sat'. Hagakure seemed to be filling in as Kagome as of now and Shiro was filling in for Inu-Yasha.

"Kure is right…" Shiro grunted. "You have helped her and I must repay you. You and your pack are permitted to stay on my lands."

"Like I need permission to stay in my home!" Kouga huffed.

Shiro ignored Kouga because of the pointed glare Hagakure gave him and walked over to her in order to avoid trouble. She handed him his pups; he now held his son and daughter for the first time.

"They're so small…" he said quietly to his mate and he took a clawed finger and delicately traced Misoka's velvety soft ear.

Hagakure scoffed.

"They sure didn't feel that way coming out!"

Kagome and Sango chuckled at this statement, leaving Shippo and Hakaki looking very confused.

"Kagome," Shippo began.

"Where do babies come from?" Hakaki asked.

"And why does it hurt?" Shippo finished.

Both kits looked at her with dewy, innocent eyes.

Sango had a very twisted expression, looking like she could cross the very thin, almost non-existent line between highly amused and extremely embarrassed at any time. Shiro and Hagakure held blank expressions and were looking at each other with innocent eyes. Inu-Yasha and Kouga looked like they were going to laugh themselves a hole in the ground at the expression on Kagome's face (Inu-Yasha really could have if he pissed Kagome off enough). Then both Kouga and Inu-Yasha realized they were laughing and enjoying the same thing, stopped, looked at each other growling, and turned away with a huff crossing their arms.

"A fine question indeed!" Miroku announced, looking very excited to be giving a follow-up lesson to the kits.

"You shut up!" Sango shouted at Miroku; the threat of the Hiriakotsu loomed in the air.

"I just wished to enlighten the children further on the— " Miroku started.

"You shouldn't be enlightening ANYONE; **_especially _**children, Miroku!" Sango shouted at him.

"But I— "

"NO!" both Sango and Kagome shouted finally.

Miroku pouted.

Kouga and Inu-Yasha couldn't help it any more. It didn't matter that they hated each other and the thought of enjoying the same thing disgusted them; everybody's face was just so damn funny! The wolf and dog were rolling on the ground, clutching their sides in laughter.

Kagome saw this as a way out.

"Oh, so YOU TWO want to explain it to them!" she shrieked.

Inu-Yasha and Kouga stopped their seemingly endless bout of laughter instantly; it was like Kagome had pushed a button.

"Well? You two think it's so funny so you wouldn't be embarrassed to explain it, now would you?!"

Kouga gulped and looked at Inu-Yasha. Inu-Yasha returned the gesture.

"Kagome…" they both started to plead.

"No!" Kagome interrupted abruptly.

Kouga looked frantically at Miroku for some help; the monk just smirked and took a position beside Sango to watch. Inu-Yasha implored for the monk's help but got the same smirk as a response.

"Go ahead." Sango prodded.

Hagakure and Shiro gave each other a look before turning back to their pups, but not before Shiro snuck a smirk at Kouga as if to say 'better you than me'.

— — — —

"That was fairly painless." Miroku joked to Kouga and Inu-Yasha.

Kouga and Inu-Yasha had just bumbled over where babies came from to Shippo and Hakaki. The others had been extremely amused, especially when the kits had asked how the babies got into the mother in the first place. Kagome had been in tears of mirth during the entire thing, just like everybody else— except Shiro, who just smirked in a Lordly way.

"Speak for yourself." Kouga grunted.

"Feh!"

"Its your fault, Inu-Yasha." Kouga growled.

"My fault?!" Inu-Yasha shouted. "Its your fault! And why the hell are you still following us?! Shouldn't you be leading your wimpy pack, or something like that?"

Kouga snorted.

"My pack will be fine for a few days without me. Besides, I want to make sure you don't try anything with **_my_** woman."

"I don't recall Kagome saying yes to anything, wolf cub." Inu-Yasha growled.

"And he says he doesn't think of her as his mate…" Hagakure muttered to her son, shaking her head; she was referring to the way Inu-Yasha was so obviously jealous of Kouga.

Miroku shoved the two feuding canines apart and walked between them.

"If you're going to walk with us Kouga, you have to get along better with Inu-Yasha."

Shiro shook his head as his daughter sucked on his finger.

"You two are pathetic; fighting like pups..."

Kouga and Inu-Yasha snorted and looked away from each other. Kagome sighed and shook her head.

"Where are we going?" she asked to change the subject.

"To my castle." Shiro replied. "I must acquire some new clothing. You are all welcome to stay for the night." He bit his tongue against the urge to say "except you, mangy wolf" for fear of his mate's wrath, which she would have brought upon him without a second thought.

Kagome smiled at the prospect of having a nice bed to sleep in.

"Wait…" Sango mused. "I thought you said that you lived near Kyoto, Hagakure."

"We do." Hagakure confirmed as she shifted the napping Nozomu in her arms.

"How are we going to get there so fast?" Miroku asked. "Only Kouga and maybe Inu-Yasha could run all the way there. And Kirara can't carry us all."

"I will transport us once we enter my lands." Shiro answered, cutting off Inu-Yasha's indignant comment about why it was only 'maybe' he could run all the way.

— — — —

As he said, Shiro transported them to the gates of his massive castle once he entered his domain.

"Wow." Shippo said with big eyes. "I've never been to a castle before!"

"You mean a castle where we're not getting attacked, Shippo," Miroku reminded the kit that sat on his shoulder.

Sango growled at the memory of Naraku's castle.

The elaborate gates opened and a very obedient looking demon with ocean blue eyes, dressed in Shiro's black and white livery stood there.

"Hello, Master. Mistress." he greeted extremely politely with a low bow. His braided blue hair fell down to the ground.

"Thank you, Tsunami." Shiro said with an air of 'I don't really need to do this, but I feel like it.'

A giggling demoness— a neko, Kouga observed— came to the gates. She had midnight black hair and smoky gray eyes and was also dressed in Shiro's livery.

"Hello, Lady Hagakure!" she greeted enthusiastically; without a bow. "Hi there, Lord Shiro!"

Shiro resisted the undeniably strong urge to roll his eyes at the neko as did Tsunami.

"Aki-san!" Hakaki greeted joyfully as he jumped from his perch on one of Miroku's shoulders to the neko in question.

"Hakaki-chan!" the neko known as Aki replied joyously as she caught Hakaki. "You have been well— OH! You've had your pups, Milady!" she cut herself off, spying the additions. "And you have brought friends! Hello, I'm Aki, Hakaki's attendant and general overseer of the servants."

"Hello." Kagome and Sango greeted politely.

"Hello, Lady Aki." Miroku greeted, taking Aki's hands in his. "Would you do me the honor of bearing my— "

"Don't touch me!" Aki growled as she sent Miroku flying.

Sango watched in amusement as Miroku landed with an audible thud inside the palace gates.

"Wow…" Kouga said, looking over Hagakure's shoulder to see better and ignoring the barely there warning growl Shiro gave.

"He didn't even finish…" Inu-Yasha observed.

Kagome nodded in agreement.

"Good job." Sango congratulated the neko.

"She doesn't like men very much…" Hagakure said in startled exasperation.

"Aki, a suggestion," Tsunami stated, putting his hand on the fuming neko's shoulder. "Why don't you let the master and mistress inside? They have had a rough journey, by the looks of it."

"Stupid me!" Aki exclaimed, smacking her forehead and shrugging Tsunami's hand away. "Please hurry inside! I'll have the maids draw baths for everyone and we'll start dinner. Would you like to help me, Hakaki-chan?"

Hakaki smiled. "If Shippo-chan can too!"

Aki smiled down at Hakaki.

"Would Shippo-chan like to come as well?" she asked, looking at Kagome.

Kagome looked at Shippo, who had jumped to her shoulder shortly before Miroku went flying for safety reasons.

"Can I?" he asked with dewy eyes.

"Go ahead, Shippo." Kagome said with a smile.

Shippo smiled and squealed just about every happy noise a baby kitsune could make before joining Hakaki with Aki and leading the way inside.

— — — —

The boys were waiting in a separate room from the girls; Hagakure had taken them somewhere with her. Shiro had gone off to his chambers, presumably to get ready for his own bath.

"Your baths are ready," a demoness announced to Miroku, Inu-Yasha, and Kouga after she slid open the door. "I will lead you there, my Lords."

— —

"Did anybody else hear her say 'bath**_s_**'?" Inu-Yasha asked after the demoness led them to one large communal bath and left them. "You know, the **_plural_**?"

"I did." Miroku squeaked, staring at the single pool of warm water as if it was going to eat him alive.

"What?" Kouga asked as he began undressing, "You boys scared? You ain't got nothing I haven't seen before. Not like I'm gonna look, anyway…I'd much rather see Kagome, thank you very much…"

"I'm not scared!" Inu-Yasha growled, while beginning to untie his haori just to prove his point.

"We simply prefer to bathe **alone**." Miroku added as he fumbled around with his own robes.

"Whatever you say…" Kouga muttered as he finished undressing and stepped into the pool. He sighed contently as he sank in. "Its warm…"

Miroku and Inu-Yasha exchanged glances before blushing madly and turning away from each other to finish undressing. Miroku finished first and hurriedly got into the water.

"It _is_ warm…" he said, sinking to his ears.

Inu-Yasha grumbled incoherent phrases and just finished untying his hakama's belt and dropping it to the floor when the door opened. A demoness stepped inside and gathered up their clothes, not even blinking at Inu-Yasha's naked form as she lifted each of his legs to gather his hakama that was still gathered around his feet. She laid out three separate sets of clothes before retreating with the boys'— presumably taking them to be washed.

Inu-Yasha stood, in all his naked glory, with his mouth wide open. Kouga swam to the edge nearest Inu-Yasha.

"You know," he mocked, "I heard that's a really good way to catch flies."

Inu-Yasha snapped out of his stupor. He turned to face the smirking wolf before his brain went to action. As a result, Kouga got a view he really didn't want that left very little to the imagination before his brain kicked in and made him close his eyes. Very tightly, I might add.

"My eyes!" Kouga wailed. "My poor, poor eyes!"

Inu-Yasha smirked.

— — — —

"Did you hear that?" Sango asked; she was referring to Kouga's wail that was currently echoing off the halls of the palace.

"Yupp…" Kagome sighed.

"Do you think it has to do with Inu-Yasha and Kouga?"

"Yupp…"

"Aren't you the least bit worried?"

"Nope…"

Hagakure laughed. "Faith in her mate…"

"My/her what?!" both girls shouted at the same time.

"I fear I have said too much…" Hagakure said with a nervous giggle.

— — — —

"That was truly cruel, Inu-Yasha." Miroku told him while glancing at the permanently emotionally scarred Kouga that was scrubbing away at his eyes. "Utterly and undeniably wrong."

Inu-Yasha smirked and sank lower into the water.

"Paybacks are hell." he stated simply.

Kouga whimpered quietly but pathetically as he splashed his eyes with water in renewed vigor as if trying to wash the permanently inscribed image of the naked Inu-Yasha standing before him away.

"Well, I don't know about you two," Miroku said as he moved himself over towards the edge of the bath, "but I'm quite finished here."

Miroku got out and dried himself with a towel before eyeing the clothing left to them by the demoness that had come in earlier. It had the crest of Lord Shiro on it— a sleeping white dog— and it appeared to be made of very fine cloth. He ran an appreciative hand over the livery and found the black and white material comfortably soft.

"Miroku," Inu-Yasha grunted, "while you may be perfectly content to stand there nude all day, I— and I'm sure Kouga— are not willing to sit here and wait for your sorry ass to get dressed."

Miroku shook his head and got dressed then waited as the others did the same thing, careful not to give a repeat performance of earlier.

"What do we do now?" Kouga asked as he shifted uncomfortably in the unfamiliar clothing. "I mean, we can't exactly wander around the palace…"

Suddenly, Aki came in the bath doors with Shippo and Hakaki riding on her shoulders.

"Gah! Haven't you people heard of knocking?!" Kouga shouted exasperatedly as he took a few surprised steps back, nearly landing himself in the water.

"I thought you'd be done by now." she stated with a sly smile at the wolf.

Kouga saw the smile that was directed at him solely. His instincts were instantly telling him that something would go dreadfully wrong if he were left alone with her for more than three minutes. There was just something about the way her eyes glittered at him and her fangs poked out that made him uneasy. No one else seemed to notice it though, so he ignored it for the moment.

"Why are Kouga's eyes so puffy?" Shippo asked innocently.

Before Inu-Yasha could proverbially 'kill' the emotionally damaged wolf with further embarrassment, Miroku cut in.

"He was washing his face and some soap got in his eyes."

Kouga gave a gruff nod and gave himself a mental note to thank the monk later.

"Soap in your eye hurts," Hakaki said with a grimace. "I know."

"Well," Aki interrupted brightly, "unless one of you boys wants to be drowned by your female companions for sticking around while they take their baths, I suggest that we disappear for the time being."

Aki turned and began to lead the way out; she shortly noticed that one of the boys wasn't following her. She turned on her heal to retrieve the straggler.

"I wasn't giving you the option, man whore," she purred viciously while she yanked Miroku's ear to get him to follow. "Understand?"

"Yes, Ma'am!" Miroku yiped as he was dragged.

The others shook their heads in disgust as they began to follow again.

— — — —

Sango and Kagome slipped into the bath. Unlike their male friends, they really didn't have a problem with bathing together; they thought of it as 'girl time' that was— supposed to be, at least— uninterrupted by the boys.

"I wonder what had Kouga wailing so much…" Sango said absently as she washed herself.

"He was saying something about his eyes," Kagome mused.

"His 'poor, poor eyes'!" both girls mocked as they dissolved into a fit of giggles.

"I'll bet anything it had to do with him seeing more than he wanted to." Sango laughed. "Like Inu-Yasha."

"Or Miroku!" Kagome added, a slight blush gracing her cheeks as she thought of the meaning of that.

Sango visibly stiffened as a powerful blush made its presence known on her face.

"Um…I think I'm done, Kagome," Sango said, rising out of the water. "I'm getting too warm."

"Me too," Kagome agreed, getting out as well.

— — — —

Kouga watched the neko watching him while she babysat the kits. Her smoky eyes were following his every move, right down to the last tail twitch. She was incredibly unnerving.

"She's watching me…" Kouga commented to Miroku out of the corner of his mouth.

If he was looking for sympathy on this particular situation, than that wasn't exactly the best place to go…

"She is…" Miroku sighed as he observed what the wolf was talking about. "Why do none of the women we come across like me?"

"Its because you try too hard, you letch," Inu-Yasha grunted as he flopped down next to Miroku, having heard the entire conversation with his keen youkai ears. "Shiro said he'd send somebody to get us when the food was ready. I guess he wants to have some big meal so he can explain what's going on."

"Milord does tend to get elaborate when it comes to explaining things." Aki commented as her eyes continued to hungrily watch the wolf prince.

Kouga shifted uncomfortably under her gaze. He was in a strange house, in strange clothes, and a strange neko was watching him like he was the most splendid thing in the world (not to say that he wasn't, but he was trying to make a point to himself).

A demon entered the room where Aki was currently watching the boys.

"Gentlemen, the food is ready."

— — — —

The boys eyed the elaborate spread of various traditional and exotic foods that made their presence known on the dining table.

"Hi, boys," Kagome greeted enthusiastically from her spot next to Hagakure.

Shiro, being Lord of the household, sat at the respected head of the table. Hagakure, being his mate, sat on his right. Sango sat next to Kagome. There were empty spaces on Shiro's left for the boys to fill.

"Please," Shiro beckoned them, "sit down."

Aki bowed respectfully after she returned Shippo and Hakaki to their adoptive mothers. Then she left.

"Its really, really, big in here, Kagome!" Shippo told her from her lap as he made an expansive gesture with his hands.

"I know, Shippo," Kagome smiled.

"Aki-san showed us lots of things before we went and got them from the bath." Shippo stated, motioning towards the boys.

"We had lots of fun!" Hakaki smiled.

Hagakure patted him on the head.

"Where are Misoka and Nozomu?" Miroku asked after noting the infants' absence.

"They are in the care of one of my most trusted servants," Hagakure assured everybody. "Now, before this food gets cold let's eat!"

After eating an amount of food, Kouga decided to see if he could get a reaction out of Shiro by mentioning Aki.

"You know," he drawled, "I noticed Aki watching me very intently. Does she normally do that to your guests?"

Shiro chuckled lightly.

"Aki is a very selective neko and it's very hard to get her to trust you. If you didn't notice at the gates, she didn't bow to either of us and she recognized Hagakure first, rather than me." Shiro explained. "While she respects me, she doesn't care for me in the least; she much prefers Kure and Hakaki and normally despises men."

"She just has a dominance problem." Hagakure defended.

"If you call nearly biting your cousin on the hand when he tried to get a look at her, then yes, I'd have to agree." Shiro scoffed.

"She's wining points from me…" Inu-Yasha said under his breath, earning a nudge from Miroku. "Its true…"

"Sesshomaru had no right to handle her face in such a manor. I'd have done the same thing." Hagakure argued.

"She neither likes or respects him; she shows that openly and that is dangerous." Shiro said in a low tone.

"I neither like or respect him, and you've said nothing to me, love." Hagakure added the endearment with a hint of a challenge.

"Any matter," Shiro continued, giving up on the challenge his mate had issued him, "if she's been watching you as you claim, I'd say she's acquired a sudden taste in men. A questionable taste, but at least it keeps me from wondering what she does with those females she's always around at night."

"Shiro!" Hagakure yelped as she flung a piece of sushi at his head.

— — — — — — — —

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[A/N:] In the beginning [God said: "let there be light!"…Okay...bad joke…] when I was first thinking about Shiro's character, I had him not liking Inu-Yasha much. I thought Inu would be the only one that could manage not being liked with me still having to keep Shiro and Kure around because of Inu's connection to her. Then, when I started working with Shiro, I decided that I didn't need somebody else barking at poor Inu; here enters Kouga. He does a good deed and is repaid with…getting disliked. But its okay, cause I love you, Kouga!

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Kouga: yahoo…I'm so lucky…

Next Chapter: **{untitled as of yet}**

Man, am I getting lazy when it comes to these things, or what? Um…since I didn't quite get to where I wanted in this chapter [the bath scene kinda took over #snicker#] I'll get to the pissing off of the kits in this one. I'm thinking about adding Sesshy into the mix about now, but that'll be discussed over the dinner [can't you tell I'm hungry right now?]. Umm…the thing with Naraku WILL be explained if I have to tie myself to this bloody chair to do it!

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Raven: ¬ .¬ Review…

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	8. The Demon's Mind

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Disclaimer: I don't own Inu-Yasha or any of its characters. I simply abuse them for my own twisted means of amusement.

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[A/N:] Howdy! Um…the beginning of this is REALLY light, but don't be fooled. It gets dark towards the middle. This fic's version of dark, anyway. [flips light switch] See?

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Raven: Not anymore…

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Netiri: [growl] You're lucky I let you live, Rave… Anyway, during the dream/flashback thingy (gosh…I haven't done one of those in a while…), the [] is where the interruptions are. You'll get it.

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The Demon's Mind

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"You know…" Inu-Yasha drawled, observing Hagakure's dinner table antics, "I'm beginning to see less and less of your relation to Sesshomaru every second."

"Bah! The only thing that cousin of mine was good for was teaching me to fight!" Hagakure scoffed.

"So he taught you to fight, did he?" Miroku said with raised eyebrows as he sipped some tea.

"I practically had to follow him around like a lost puppy and bug the shit out of him, but yeah." Hagakure snorted.

"A foolhardy thing to do." Shiro commented dryly.

Hakaki and Shippo watched from their safer perch on Miroku's head as Hagakure and Shiro went headlong into another argument. Kagome backed slowly away after having to dodge a piece of food.

"In case you guys were wondering, I believe this is the equivalent of a food fight at home." Kagome commented, ducking behind Sango.

"Hakaki," Sango asked, "…is dinner always this…interesting here?"

Hakaki nodded and expertly caught a piece of flying sushi then ate it.

"Damn… My wolves have better manners…" Kouga said under his breath. A stray chopstick hit him in the forehead.

"Good aim, Shiro." Inu-Yasha snickered. Kouga smacked him upside the head, resulting in a nasty snarl from the hanyou.

"HA!" Hagakure exclaimed suddenly, causing everybody to jump and forget his or her irrational and/or homicidal thoughts. "I win!"

"Win…what…?" Inu-Yasha asked.

"I can't quite remember…" Hagakure laughed while rubbing her neck sheepishly.

Shiro pulled random pieces of food out of his long silver locks, sputtering as he did so.

"You are one of the most immature people sometime, Kure." Shiro snorted as he fished out another stray food item. "Now I need another bath."

"You **will not **leave this table until you've explained why the hell you were gone so long and why you were beaten up!" Hagakure shouted as she stood to tower over Shiro in his still seated position.

Shiro's lordly expression faded remarkably fast under Hagakure's withering glare; a female demon's threat wasn't something to take lightly—especially if she was Lady of the Eastern Lands and had a certain control over all the servants of the house that already didn't like you. Shiro swallowed his pride and settled himself back down in an effort to calm his mate's nerves.

"Okay, Kure," Shiro said with the little dignity he had left after being humiliated by his mate, "if you sit down I'll explain the whole thing."

Hagakure snorted victoriously and sat back down. It was then she realized that almost everybody had something sticking out of their hair, sticking to their clothes, or smudged on their face.

"Sorry." she offered. "Um…Aki!"

The neko appeared at the door almost instantly.

"Yes, Kure?" she asked.

"Bring some towels. We seem to have gotten into…another squabble."

Aki observed the food littered room.

"Uh…you sure you don't want to continue this conversation elsewhere…?" Aki asked as she removed a chopstick from the wall. "I mean, someplace clean. I could have this fixed up if you guys went to the garden."

"Sounds like a good idea to me." Shiro said, cautiously standing.

Unfazed by the 'if-you-don't-listen-to-me-you-die' glare Hagakure was fixating on her mate, Aki walked fully into the room. She stopped at Inu-Yasha, plucked a few random foodstuffs out of his hair, then continued to Miroku and did the same—though he had considerably less because of the kitsune helmet of sorts on his head. Aki walked over to Kouga, who seemed nervous merely by her presence in the room, and ran her fingers through his long ponytail, untangling it and removing random things from it. She ignored the warning growl he omitted and continued after everything was out.

He smelled like forest and other wild scents. Aki, being a servant in the house, rarely—if ever—went out into the woods. Kouga's scent was everything she couldn't have: freedom from the house and its endless gardens.

"I think she likes him…" Sango whispered to Kagome.

Kagome giggled and nodded.

"If you think that's best, Aki…" Hagakure said then stood up. "We'll be in the garden. Come on everyone."

Kouga nearly bolted up from his place at the table in an effort to get away from the unwanted attention the neko was giving him. Inu-Yasha snorted as the wolf chose to chance Shiro and walked extremely close to Hagakure.

"I never…" Aki snorted, her sleek feline tail twitching in irritation.

"You'd think he was gay…" Miroku commented under his breath as he stood.

Inu-Yasha snickered then followed Hagakure out, with the others close behind.

————

"Wow," Kagome admired. "Its so pretty out here!"

Indeed it was. Shiro and Hagakure had led them to one of the many spacious gardens on the estate. Light from the thin strip of the waxing moon had shadows playing in the most unusual ways off everybody's body. Exotic flowers grew; freely mixed in were more native plants. Sakura trees that were starting to lose their flowers because of the summer heat dotted the perimeter, while jasmine and other unknown wild flowers littered the area along the pathways. Some koi swam in their ponds, oblivious to the fact that their masters were demons. Beautiful miniature waterfalls kept the ponds aerated and offered a therapeutic humming.

"PERVERT!" Sango shouted.

Unfortunately, Miroku noticed the moonlight on the bodies the most. Though, it could be debated whether he could see said moonlight from his new position in the koi pond…

Kouga raised his eyebrows as Miroku pulled himself out of the water completely unfazed.

"Do that often?" Kouga asked with a smirk.

Miroku returned the smirk and nodded once. Kouga rolled his eyes, an action that Inu-Yasha copied.

"Hey, Sango," Kagome asked the fuming demon slayer quietly, "did you ever notice how similar Inu-Yasha and Kouga are?"

"What do you mean?" Sango asked while she warily eyed the lecherously grinning monk. She rolled her eyes when he winked and waved at her.

"They're both arrogant, strong, believe that they're in complete control, proud, have enough pride to choke a horse, and…"

"…Completely wrapped around your little finger, it seems." Hagakure added, having been listening to the entire exchange.

"What do you mean?" Kagome asked, a little startled.

"Watch this." Hagakure said with a hint of mischief.

Kagome furrowed her brows in slight confusion. Hagakure expertly took Kagome's palm and gave her a small slit on the thumb. It was no more than a paper cut, but it still caused Kagome to cry out sharply.

Both Kouga and Inu-Yasha were at her side in an instant.

"What's wrong?!" they both asked, completely naïve to Hagakure's involvement as said demoness walked closely to her mate's side.

Shiro rolled his eyes at the actions of the two males and the obvious innocent act Hagakure was putting on. Sango and Miroku chuckled, and Hagakure smirked knowingly.

"How the hell did you cut yourself?!" Inu-Yasha shouted in slight confusion.

"Did you touch a thorn or something?" Kouga asked as he examined the small cut.

"She's not that stupid, you dumb ass wolf." Inu-Yasha growled as he swatted Kouga's hand away.

Kagome removed her hand before it became the focus of another fight between the two and she could possibly be injured. They were already snarling at each other after barely twenty seconds, and Hagakure gave her a 'fix it' look.

"Knock it off." Kagome ordered sharply, stunning both males with her direct and sharp command.

While Kouga only looked confused, Inu-Yasha gave Sango a dirty look. Seeing the look she gave him back along with the one the monk added, he redirected his scowl at Hagakure.

"Kure…" he growled.

Shiro let out an un-lordly, irritated half growl, half sigh. Normally, it would have been used to silence a pair of squabbling children, but he found it most effective for this situation.

"We are here to talk, yes?" Shiro asked formally. "Then quit your childish antics, all of you, and listen to what is to be said."

"If someone would quit their rambling and get to the point…" Inu-Yasha said in a strained voice.

Shiro ignored that and chose a place to sit down. With the group quickly joining him on the ground in various positions, he began to explain.

"You see, it was shortly after my dear mate had conceived that this all started."

Hagakure blushed slightly when Shiro sent a small smirk her way. As if on cue, all the demons present turned towards the house.

"Oh dear." Hagakure said as she got up. "I'll have to take my explanation later. Right now, Misoka wants her mommy and I don't have that much of a demon heart to let Aki handle it. Poor girl's gonna be in trouble as it is when my baby starts screaming."

Shiro puffed his chest out proudly at the mention of his daughter.

"Smart little brat." Inu-Yasha commented as the foreseen screaming erupted. "She already knows how to get her way."

Hagakure laughed and left, going in the direction of the house and her screaming infant.

"It's a good thing she's a Lord's daughter." Kouga said seriously. "Otherwise, she'd have attracted all kinds of predators. Only quiet pups survive."

Shiro sent him a warning glare.

"Are you insinuating that my pup wouldn't survive?" he growled.

"No." Kouga replied quickly, dismissing the challenge in the other demon's voice. "I'm only saying that if she was left without her mother for an extended period, this screaming could be dangerous."

"I think that's the same thing…" Shiro growled dangerously.

"Oh, both of you quit it." Sango sighed, very unafraid of what these demons could do to her. "Shiro, get on with it and argue with Kouga later."

Shiro blinked for a few seconds as he registered the challenge in the woman's voice. She was practically _daring_ him to argue with her! He took a deep breath and wondered why his mate always picked such insubordinate friends.

"As I was saying," Shiro started again, "after my mate conceived, I began to have a strange, reoccurring dream…"

[Flashback]

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It was dark; so dark that even with his keen youkai eyes, Shiro was unable to see through the curtain-like haze. He had no depth perception and couldn't see an end to the darkness; it was infinite.

"My Lord, you are looking tired." an unknown but feminine voice echoed around him in the blistering darkness. "Lie down."

As he was about to protest, he was somehow flung onto a large futon. He sat up, only to be pushed back down by a small pack of demonesses. They looked fondly down at him with eyes that made him want to hide.

[]

"Why do all men's dreams start like this?" Sango interrupted, irritation and sardonic humor evident in her voice.

Kagome snickered as Shiro turned red and the other boys ducked their heads in shame. Shippo and Hakaki didn't entirely know what that meant, but they giggled right along with Kagome.

"Hey, I can't control how my dreams start, okay?!" Shiro shouted indignantly.

"What ever you say…" Sango goaded.

Shiro clenched a fist and mentally planned to speak with his mate about her friends and their lack of respect.

"I have never hit a woman that wasn't trying to kill me, but you're asking for it." Shiro growled.

Miroku cleared his throat, drawing the demon Lord's attention away from Sango who seemed damn determined to piss him off. The monk earned a look that said: 'If she's yours, control her!'

"Sango, perhaps you should let Shiro continue…?" Miroku suggested.

[]

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"I demand to know what is going on here!" Shiro growled angrily as he was repeatedly pushed downwards back onto the futon.

"Demand?" a male voice questioned, irritation evident in his voice. "You DEMAND to know what is happening?! You have no right to demand!"

"I am Lord Shiro of the Eastern Lands! I have every right to demand!" Shiro bellowed, angrily fighting off the demonesses that had made their less-than-innocent intent known. "Where the hell am I!? Get off me!"

The once pleasing to the eye females turned into tree roots that swung violently and tried to pin him down. Shiro fought his way to stand and did so with great effort on his part.

"Very well," the same masculine voice said. "You wish to know what is going on?"

"That's only what I've been saying for the past five minutes!" Shiro snarled as he dodged a tree root that seemed inclined to impale him.

Suddenly, the tree roots disappeared and Shiro was left in the dark again.

"This isn't exactly what I'd call explaining." the demon growled.

A white figure approached. As it came nearer, Shiro recognized it to take the form of a baboon pelt.

"Who are you?" Shiro demanded with a snarl; he was angry and tired of playing these games.

"I am who I will be, Lord Shiro." the masquerading figure said to the angry demon lord.

"Don't give me that riddle shit!" Shiro bellowed as he lunged forward to slice whatever he could of the creature he felt was mocking him.

The mocking thing faded away as Shiro's claws were mere centimeters from making contact.

"Lord Shiro, your lands are for grabs." the male voice echoed.

{end]

"It sounds like something Naraku would do." the hanyou growled.

"That would be right up his alley…" Miroku commented.

Shiro growled at the familiar name of the creature that had held him captive until recently.

{Flashback}

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"What do you want?" Shiro spat.

"That is simple," Naraku replied. "I want your holdings."

[]

"Naraku…" Shiro snarled. "That's the creature that kept me in that cave for those long months."

"Dirty bastard…" Kouga muttered.

"Why would he want your lands though?" Kagome asked.

[]

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Shiro was smart; he knew that that wasn't all Naraku was after.

"Then why not just kill me and take them?"

Naraku laughed a sinister laugh.

"What fun would that be?"

"You sick bastard…"

"I assure you, I am quite well." Naraku retorted smugly.

"Why are you toying with me?" Shiro asked, obviously enraged. "Say it clear and quit the riddle shit!"

Naraku stepped closer to the infuriated demon lord before him, ignoring the menacing warning growls he omitted.

Shiro's eyes were trained on the creature called Naraku as he struggled to stand, his muscles screaming at the injustice of it all. Something was definitely wrong with this entire situation. He was weakening by the second; every step Naraku took towards him drained him further.

"Get away from me." Shiro snarled, flexing his claws as best he could. "Get away and leave my mate out of this!"

{}

"For sick pleasure." Shiro growled.

————

Hagakure petted her daughter's hair as she nursed; Nozomu was sleeping soundly in her lap.

"Kure," Aki asked as her head peered into the room, "do you have a minute?"

Hagakure smiled warmly.

"Sure, Aki. Come and sit down."

Aki smiled and gracefully situated herself in front of her mistress.

"So… What did you want to talk about?" Hagakure asked with a smirk. "The Wolf Prince, perhaps?"

Aki snickered.

"You know me too well." the neko giggled. "All I ask is that when they leave could you put in a good word for me?"

"Consider it done." the demoness replied. "The wolf needs to get his mind off Kagome anyway; she'll be Inu-Yasha's soon if I have anything to say about it."

Aki raised an eyebrow.

"Meddling with past acquaintances again?"

"I don't consider it meddling. It's…helping." Hagakure told Aki pointedly.

"You're helping somebody again?" Aki asked with raised eyebrows. She snickered. Hagakure's 'helping' was certainly interesting.

————

"Psst! Kagome! Kagome, are you asleep?" Shippo whispered.

"Not anymore, Shippo." Kagome said through a yawn. "What is it?"

"I really have to go to the bathroom, but I don't know where it is." Shippo said guiltily.

"That's okay," Kagome said with a smile as she sat up. "At least you woke me up this way, not by going on me. Come on, let's find it."

Shippo jumped on Kagome's shoulder when she stood up and began making her way to the shoji to find the bathroom. Unfortunately, it was dark in the room and Kirara's tails had strayed from her mistress' side putting directly into Kagome's path. An ear-piercing yowl woke Sango immediately.

"WHOZIT?!" Sango shouted as she bolted upright, reaching for the Hiriakotsu.

"Sango, it's just us!" Kagome assured her friend.

"Oh, I thought it was a demon or something…" Sango sighed as she sat up. "What are you doing up so late?"

"Shippo has to go to the bathroom."

"Oh. Well, I guess I'll go too," Sango yawned, "being as I'm up."

Kagome giggled sheepishly and opened the shoji. Both girls and the kitsune wandered around until the latrine was found, did their business, and began to make their way back to their room.

"Do you hear that, Kagome?" Shippo asked innocently. "It sounds like groaning."

Both Sango and Kagome blushed to their ears.

"Do you want to hear a bedtime story, Shippo?" Sango asked quickly to divert the kit's attention.

"Sure!" Shippo said excitedly as he flopped down on Kagome's sleeping bag.

Sango sighed inwardly in relief. Now all she had to do was think of a story that wouldn't scare the kit out of his hakama and she was all set.

————

"But Kagome—!" Shippo whined.

"No Shippo, Shiro is right." Kagome interrupted him. "It's going to be too dangerous for you when we find Naraku."

Inu-Yasha snorted his agreement and everybody else nodded.

"But I don't want to stay here!" Shippo protested.

"Neither do I!" Hagakure and Hakaki whined.

Shiro rubbed the bridge of his nose in annoyance.

"We had this conversation last night, Kure…" the demon lord sighed and cast an irritated glance at Kouga as the wolf prince snickered. "It is much safer for you to stay here with the pups then it is to go with us. Besides, they need their mother to stay healthy for them and all the stress of travel wouldn't be good for you."

Hagakure pouted and angrily turned on her heal and left into the house, both of the kits following her with the same irritated air. Kagome blinked at the retreating form of the angry kitsune that she took care of and normally adored her.

"Well then…" Sango said, a little surprised that Shippo was giving Kagome the cold shoulder.

"Little brat…" Inu-Yasha mumbled.

"Don't worry," Aki said with a feline smile as she appeared from around the corner, "I'll take good care of them."

Kouga tensed up at the sudden appearance of the neko that he was sure was stalking him. He nearly wet himself at her next line.

"And if you leave the wolf here, I'll take **_very_** good care of him as well."

Kouga paled incredibly and stepped behind Miroku to hide himself from the neko's hungry eyes. The monk appeared to be highly amused by the situation and stepped away, once again leaving the prince in Aki's line of sight. Kouga squeaked and ducked behind Inu-Yasha, who was as amused—if not more so—as the monk; he also sidestepped, leaving Kouga exposed to Aki. Kouga whimpered pathetically as Aki gave him a seductive grin and purred.

Shiro bit back a laugh and settled for egging Aki on with a slight nod. Aki caught her master's motion and continued harassing the wolf with practiced ease.

"Is something wrong, my dear prince?" Aki questioned, tilting her feminine head to the side.

Kouga squeaked and looked to anyone in the group for help. Sango was just about as amused as the boys and Kagome was still staring off after Shippo. He would have to tough this one out on his own…

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"Good-bye, puppy-kun!" Aki called happily as she waved the group away.

"I hate you all." Kouga muttered as the group shuffled onwards out of the castle grounds. "Wait—I hate you all with the _exception_ of Kagome."

"Oh, stuff it." Inu-Yasha sighed.

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[A/N:] Tada! Here it is! I hope you liked it! I'm in a good mood right now—a Kouga abuse mood!

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Kouga: Lucky me…

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Netiri: Well…what to say, what to say…

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Inu: Get rid of that wolf before I do.

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Netiri: NO! Puppy-kun is staying for quite a while!

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Kouga: Tch.

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Netiri: anyways…I went to Otakon 2004 and had a blast! If you've never been to an anime con, then you're in for a HUGE surprise when you finally do! Trust me; there are people running around in their underwear!

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Miroku: Are you sure you didn't go to a hentai con—? [WHAMMO!]

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Netiri: [rolls eyes]

Next Chapter: [sigh] I'm getting a bit of writers' block for this particular part. I know I need to get them to Naraku, but how… Maybe I'll throw in Kikyo about now…and I still need a spot for Sesshy… So many options…

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Raven: Review!


	9. An Illusion of Peace

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Disclaimer: I don't own Inu-Yasha or any of its characters. I simply abuse them for my own twisted means of amusement.

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A/N: I'm alive…though after you read this incredibly short chapter, I might not be…

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3/13/05- just a note to let you know I haven't died, I haven't given up on the fic, and I will most definitely be putting the last chapter up by the end of this month/beginning of next month. After that, there's the epilogue and this fic will THEN, and ONLY then, be considered officially dead by me…except for the occasional edits. Netiri doesn't do sequels for fanfics, peoples! …not unless she's become obsessed with the storyline…which I haven't…so far…

THERE IS A PREVIEW FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER IN THE BOTTOM _A/N_! …you guys deserve it…

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An Illusion of Peace

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Shiro watched as the group he was traveling with once again dissolved into a fit of squabbles. It was quite ridiculous. Something the wolf said had set Inu-Yasha off and the two were currently being held apart from physically fighting one another (Shiro was personally hoping Inu-Yasha would win, if it came to a fistfight—it would save him the trouble of fighting the wolf himself).

The demon lord took this opportunity to sit down—not that he needed the rest—and observe the scenery. Beautiful forests surrounded their current path. They were deceptively inviting and peaceful—a metaphor for his life. He hadn't done anything peacefully for a while and was sure he wouldn't be able to until after Naraku was long gone.

A gentle breeze shifted through the deceptively calm branches and brought with them a strange scent. It smelled faintly of the girl Kagome, but was different at the same time—death and soil were intermingled. A white snakelike creature emerged from the alluring woods, soon fallowed by several others.

Inu-Yasha, at the notice of the white serpents, instantly dropped all matters of conversation—hostile or not.

"Kikyou…" the hanyou whispered.

Shiro's keen nose picked up an initial elevation in the level of distress in everybody but the wolf's scent. Soon after, however, Kouga must have scented the change in everybody because he stopped his goading and became slightly agitated himself.

"What is going on?" Shiro asked in a low tone.

"Kikyou was...Inu-Yasha's first love," Miroku explained quietly, looking over at the dazed hanyou to make sure he wasn't listening. "She died but first pinned him to the God Tree with a sacred arrow after being tricked by Naraku; she was resurrected by an ogre and now wants to take him to hell with her."

Shiro nodded, acknowledging the monk's words—confusing cliff notes version though they were, then watched Inu-Yasha's reaction to the nearby presence of his once dead love. He was agitated, but not angry; his scent was filled with dread and desire—he was full of conflicting emotions.

"What the hell is that?" Kouga asked, a look of disgust crossing his features. Miroku sighed and ignored him—he wasn't about to explain it again.

Kikyou stepped out of the bushes. She stood, her soul gatherers dancing around her undead form.

Kagome's eyes momentarily glazed over before she gasped. Inu-Yasha flinched at the sound and his ear swiveled, but otherwise did nothing. Kouga was extremely agitated now, mainly because of Kagome's reaction. Shiro merely watched, as did Sango and Miroku.

"Inu-Yasha." Kikyou greeted with a slight nod of her head.

She observed the larger group with somewhat of an amused expression before holding out her hand. She opened her palm to reveal the large jewel shard that was resting there.

"I have no use for this." Kikyou stated simply as she tossed it to Inu-Yasha; he numbly caught it. "I trust you to keep it safe and out of Naraku's grasp. I will assist you when the time comes, but until then I will be doing numerous works in the forests and small villages."

Inu-Yasha stood still in his place, dazedly watching as Kikyou turned to leave. He still stood as she walked off back into the bushes, and continued doing so until her presence became undetectable. He uttered not a word while any of this happened, causing much confusion among his companions.

Miroku cleared his throat a little loudly as Kouga opened his mouth to speak, effectively silencing the wolf. Inu-Yasha snapped out of his trance-like state and quietly handed the shard to Kagome, who took it with a slight look of shock.

"Let's go." Inu-Yasha grunted roughly, while turning away. When nobody followed, he turned around and sharply barked: "What the hell is with you! Let's GO!"

Everybody jumped slightly and quickly followed after the temperamental hanyou who was their unofficial leader—even Kouga.

————

"Lady Hagakure, what are you doing?" Aki asked as she stepped into a room to find her mistress hurriedly throwing clothes and diaper cloths into a makeshift traveling bag.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" Hagakure responded gruffly while tucking a forelock behind her shoulder.

"It appears as if you are preparing to go on a journey of some sort." Aki replied with a slight scowl. "And as your servant, I must say this is not a good idea."

"Oh do you now…?" Hagakure said, leading Aki on slightly. "And in what other way would you view it?"

"As your friend…" Aki drawled, trying to keep the curiosity out of her voice, "I would like to know…just where the hell are you going! I can keep a secret, Kure! I promise! Just tell me!"

"You know, Aki," Hagakure said with a smile as she stood to her full height, "I heard the most amusing expression from Kagome when I was traveling with her. I believe it suites you perfectly."

"What would that be?" Aki asked curiously.

"Curiosity killed the cat."

Aki blinked a little at that comment. Then it dawned on her.

"Hey! That was mean!"

Hagakure snickered. "I suppose so, but the truth hurts. Here, let's put it this way: I don't trust them not to screw up and Shippo's been sniffling for Kagome…Would you like to accompany me?"

"Yes!"

Hagakure smiled as she continued packing. "Then get your things."

————

"This stopped being remotely interesting a long time ago…" Kouga complained.

"Then get lost." Inu-Yasha snapped. "We didn't ask you to come along anyway."

"Inu-Yasha…" Miroku sighed.

"Shut up, Miroku." the hanyou ordered.

"Quit your childish bickering." Shiro snapped, obviously growing irritated enough to break his normally lordly appearance. "All you've done since that clay woman showed up was pick fights and I'm growing tired of it. If you had any sense, you'd see there is nothing for you with her and move on."

Kagome and Sango's eyes widened at the rather bold mention of Kikyou and blatant show of opinion. Miroku stepped back slightly, as did Kouga.

Inu-Yasha stood, staring at and seemingly _through_ Shiro. His eyes appeared unfocused and soulless—like someone had presented him with an unthinkable question.

"What did you say…?" Inu-Yasha asked quietly after a while, slight anger appearing in his voice.

"You heard what I said, Inu-Yasha." Shiro said stoically. "I'm not in the habit of repeating myself."

Inu-Yasha growled angrily.

"How DARE you even speak about Kikyou!" the hanyou roared. "You don't know anything about her or me! What gives you the right!"

"Reason," Shiro stated calmly. "Inu-Yasha, reason gives me the right. While you are correct that I don't know about you or your past…acquaintances, I have enough intellect to know that you're torn in two."

Inu-Yasha growled dangerously.

"This is a decision you must work out on your own in the end."

"What the hell are you talking about!"

Shiro stared down at the hanyou with a glint of amusement in his eyes. Inu-Yasha slowly grew confused, forgetting his anger for the moment.

"Just remember marking humans is different."

Inu-Yasha turned fifty shades of red, Kouga blinked, Miroku knotted his brows, and Shiro looked like he was about to crack up. Sango and Kagome looked at each other confused and Kirara just shook her head.

A very uncomfortable silence went on between Inu-Yasha and Kouga for quite a while afterward, effectively stopping the bickering.

————

"Where are we going?"

"I'd love to know, as well…"

"Mama?"

Hagakure's eye twitched in irritation. This had been going on for hours.

"TO THE DEEPEST CORNERS OF HELL IF WE DON'T CHANGE OUR EVIL WAYS!"

Aki, Shippo, and Hakaki stared, blinking at the demoness. Misoka and Nozomu blinked once and then started wailing.

Hagakure moaned in defeat.

————

"What are we doing?"

"What do you mean 'what are we doing'?" Inu-Yasha griped.

"Exactly what I sad," Shiro replied. "But allow me to rephrase. Where are we going? Are we going to walk endlessly in circles, or are we going to go somewhere? You are obviously the leader of this little venture, and not having a definite goal says nothing for you or the rest of us."

Inu-Yasha growled slightly at this. Kouga raised his eyebrow in interest.

"Heh. Maybe the dog Lord and I have more in common than I thought."

"Can you try and _not_ start a fight, Kouga?" Kagome sighed. The wolf gave her an innocent look.

Sango, Miroku, and Kirara sighed heavily and sat down on a tree stump.

"Glad to see we're all mature adults here…" Sango muttered.

"Honestly." Miroku agreed. "And I thought we were done with this…"

"What does THAT mean!" Inu-Yasha asked, irritation levels rising.

Before anything serious could erupt, a low hissing sound began. It was almost like the steam from a tea kettle. Then there was a crackling in the bushes and Hagakure (carrying Misoka and Nozomu), Aki, Hakaki, and Shippo stumbled out of the woods. Shiro stared in her direction.

"Hagakure!"

"Eheh… Guess you were closer than I thought." Hagakure said nervously as she shifted her twins into a more comfortable position.

"Kagome!" Shippo squealed as he flung himself at the schoolgirl. Kagome caught him and gave him a scolding look before succumbing to the cute baby eyes and hugging him tightly.

Kouga scooted behind the conveniently placed Miroku to avoid Aki's gaze. However, it appeared the fates were not on his side at that moment and he was roughly shoved into the other man, causing both of them to fall.

"What the hell was that for!" Kouga shouted, looking behind himself to see…nothing.

A few puzzled expressions and snickers later, Miroku cleared his throat.

"Kouga," he said clearly, with as much dignity as he could muster, "get off of me."

The wolf demon blinked once or twice before scrambling off the monk's back and as far backwards as he could before he ran into something. Rather, someone.

"Well, hello there!" Aki said brightly with a slight grin as she looked down on the wolf prince who was growing paler and paler by the second. "May I ask why you just jumped the poor monk? He did not seem to be plotting anything malicious towards our Lord or Lady."

With renewed confidence in himself, Kouga stood, though it was a fair distance away from the neko.

"First off," he began while pointing to Shiro and Hagakure, "they are NOT my 'Lord' or 'Lady' in any way, shape, or form; they are yours! Second, I didn't jump him! Somebody shoved me!"

"Uh-huh… The bush just reached out and shoved you." Sango said dryly.

"I didn't jump him!" Kouga protested.

"A likely story," Inu-Yasha muttered.

Miroku coughed. "Can we forget that happened?"

"I suggest you do," Shiro said with a nod. "It is entirely too ridiculous to save in the corners of your mind."

Hagakure stuck out her tongue and made mocking faces at her mate from behind his back.

"And I will be taking my _immature_ mate, her servant, and my pups back home now," the demon lord added with an eye directed at Hakaki. The young kitsune scrambled into Aki's arms so he wouldn't be left behind.

"Jewel shards…" Kagome said quietly, causing Inu-Yasha to stare.

"Do you feel that?" Miroku asked, grabbing his staff defensively.

"I do." Sango responded, taking up her weapon.

"What are you talking about?" Kouga hissed, trying desperately to scent the air, but to no avail because they were upwind. Suddenly, he felt a chill and the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end.

"Now, now, Lord Shiro," a scarily familiar voice said, "you wouldn't want to leave when the fun is just about to begin, would you? Not again?"

The demon lord snarled at the voice, as did everybody else who was familiar with the creature.

"Naraku, you bastard!" Inu-Yasha shouted, rage evident in his voice. "What the hell could you want with two newborn pups, their mother, and her servant!"

A cold, malicious chuckled filled the air as the hanyou made his presence known visibly.

"I wouldn't want them to miss all the fun."

Aki glared at Naraku with all her might and held Hakaki protectively, mirroring Kagome's actions to Shippo.

"This is stupid," Hagakure snapped. "Why the hell are you so evil, father!"

Everybody froze and stared at the demoness. Naraku even looked mildly surprised.

"W-WHAT!" Inu-Yasha shouted, his eyes larger than saucers.

"Explain yourself, Hagakure," Shiro demanded. "You smell nothing of him. This is a horrible joke."

"Why the HELL would I joke about being related to THAT creature after all he's done to my friends and you?" Hagakure growled. "You should have wondered where I got my black hair from—certainly not my mother's side of the family."

Everybody gaped at Hagakure. Naraku merely glared.

"You… How is that possible!" Inu-Yasha bellowed. "You would be a—"

"By all rights I SHOULD be a hanyou," Hagakure agreed, "but, as you can see I am not. I myself am not quite sure how it's possible, but I have theories."

"And, pray tell, _woman_," Naraku sneered, these accusations slowly throwing him off target, "what would they be?"

"Sesshoumaru used to have fun rubbing it in that before I was born," the demoness snarled in an equally nasty voice, "my mother took a liking to a human bandit named Onigumo. If I'm not mistaken, that was your former name?" She continued without waiting for a response, positive or negative, from the hanyou. "They mated, and because the ritual is different for demons and purebred humans, the bandit became hers in blood. Shortly before my birth, he left and my mother felt the mark burning in betrayal. She was so angry that she forsake him as ever being her mate, thus draining any and all of his blood from me. I do think it is that act that eventually killed her—finishing making a child by herself weakened her blood and she couldn't handle the stress of battle."

Naraku glared at the demoness that so defiantly confused him. However, he was getting very angry now that he knew her wretched mother was the one that caused all of his scars and pain; though, truth be told, he was elated to hear that the demoness had suffered a most uncomfortable end.

"This has been a truly touching reunion, but now I have even more of a reason to kill you," Naraku hissed.

Hagakure scowled at him, her face almost a mirror of the hanyou's.

"You will not be able to lay a hand on her," Shiro proclaimed as he stood in front of her protectively, "nor any that are under my protection. Aki. Hakaki. Come here."

The neko, carrying the kitsune, began to do just that. Naraku had other plans. He flung one of his tentacles in her direction and it would have struck home if Kouga hadn't jumped out in front of Aki and relocated her and the kit out of harm's way. He would later ponder why the hell he would do something so reckless, but right now he had simply done what seemed like the right thing to do.

"Are you okay?" the wolf prince asked in a low, lulling tone as he helped to fix Aki and Hakaki's composure. The usual nervousness he got being around her was gone. It was possible it was because of the adrenaline beginning to rush through his veins.

Aki nodded once. Kouga glared at Naraku after acknowledging Aki's response with a nod of his own. Naraku merely smirked.

Inu-Yasha had since drawn the Tetsusaiga and was just waiting for the opportune moment to use it. Sango and Miroku stood at the ready and Kagome had her bow with an arrow in hand.

"Where are your minions!" Inu-Yasha finally snapped, breaking the intolerable silence among the group.

"They became insubordinate and had to be taken care of," Naraku said. He gained an even more wicked smile when everybody's expressions became slightly surprised.

————

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A/N: It's official: I'm a horrible authoress. I really do try to update often, but it almost always gets pushed back for some reason...writer's block, my brothers, oh, and that little thing called my life… I'm really sorry, guys! I really WOULD rather sit on my ass and write all day, but it's just not possible. So…enjoy this little snippet from the next chapter and hopefully wet your appetites for more!

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Next Chapter: _Watch the Leaves Fall_

It was a normal sack; the only thing notable was that it was black in color. It closed at the top with a drawstring like any other bag and it held no aura of darkness that would lead the group to think a curse had somehow been placed on or in it. Only the stench of death leaked from its depths.

Sango's hands trembled at the drawstring because she was honestly afraid of what was in it. Miroku stood beside her in a comforting gesture, hoping to give her courage to face whatever surely nasty thing was in the bag. The knot was untied and the bag was carefully being draw open. Sango looked into the depths of Naraku's 'gift'.


End file.
